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Some  Elements  of 

Foroefulness 

in  the  ComparlBons 

of  Jesus 


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Eijr  anibrrsitu  of  (fHitcago 

Founded  by  John  D.  Rockefeller 


SOME 
ELEMENTS  OF  FORCEFULNESS 


IN 


THE  COMPARISONS  OF  JESUS 

WITH    COMPARATIVE   TABLES    OF   METAPHORS 
FROM  THE  DEUTERO-ISAIAH  AND  PAUL 

BY 

BENJAMIN   WILLARD    ROBINSON 


A  DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE 

GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE  IN 

CANDIDACY  FOR   THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF 

PHILOSOPHY 

(Department  of  Biblirnl^i/id  Patristic  Greek) 


1904 


®:|)C  (^Intbrrsilu  of  Cliicago 

Founded  by  John  D.  Rockefeller 


SOME 
ELEMENTS  OF  FORCEFULNESS 


IN 


THE  COMPARISONS  OF  JESUS 

WITH    COMPARATIVE   TABLES    OF   METAPHORS 
FROM  THE  DEUTERO-ISAIAH  AND  PAUL 


•  BY 

BENJAMIN   WILLARD    ROBINSON 


A  DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO   THE  FACUITY  OF  THE 

GRADUATE  SCHOOL   OF  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE  IN 

CANDIDACY  FOR    THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF 

PHILOSOPHY 

(Department  of  Biblical  and  Patristic  Greek) 


1904 


Some  Elements  of  Forcefulness  in  Jesus' 
Comparisons. 

BENJAMIN    W.    ROBINSON,    PH.D. 

CHICAGO,   ILL. 

CONTENTS. 

Introduction. 
I.     Certain  Seeming  Metaphors  which  are  not  really  Such. 
II.    Certain  Real  Metaphors  which  do  not  seem  to  be  Such. 

III.  Certain  Maxim-principles  which  are  practically  Metaphors. 

IV.  Two  Tables  Comparing  the  Deutero-Isaiah,  Jesus,  and  Paul. 
V.    Two  Preliminary  Remarks. 

VI.     First  Element  in  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Comparisons  :     The   Radi- 

calness  of  their  Physical  Bases. 
VII.    Second  Element  of  Power:  Exclusion  of  Non-contributing  Details. 
VIII.    Third  Element  of  Power:   Deferred  Applications. 
IX.     Fourth  Element  of  Power  :   Effective  Reversal  of  Previous  Figu- 
rative Usage. 
X.     Fifth  Element  of  Power  :    Antitheses. 

XI.     Sixth  Element  of  Power:    Changing  a  Negative  to  a  Positive. 
XII.     Seventh  Element  of  Power:    Combination. 

XIII.  Eighth  Element  of  Power  :   Naturalness. 

XIV.  Ninth  Element  of  Power:    Inwardness. 
XV.     Possible  Value  of  the  Present  Study. 

JESUS  talked  to  the  men  of  his  generation  with  such  power  that 
they  expressly  described  him  as  speaking  with  authority.  His 
vernacular  was  Aramaic,  and  he  reduced  nothing  to  writing.  But 
despite  the  loss  of  power  through  reporting,  translating,  and  trans- 
mitting, the  vital  force  of  his  sayings  is  still  strongly  evident  to  any 
reader. 

The  subjective  source  of  this  power  lay  in  his  consciousness  that 
he  was  the  unique  Son  of  God,  that  he  realized  in  himself  the  true 
messianic  ideal,  and  that  he  therefore  had  the  right  to  give  absolute 
emphasis  to  his  religious  statements  and  to  his  ethical  demands. 
This  feeling  is  evidenced  by  his  changing  the  prophetic  third  person 
to  the  first,  and  by  his  unhesitating  revision  of  the  sacred  scriptures 
of  his  nation. 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  I07 

If  we  turn  to  his  life  and  words  themselves,  we  find  elements  of 
power  in  the  spotless  consistency  of  his  life  with  his  teaching,  in  his 
closeness  to  nature  and  to  human  nature,  in  his  comprehensiveness, 
and  in  his  profound  centralization  of  all  religious  truth  in  the  soul.' 
His  miracles,  moreover,  emphasized  his  claims. 

It  is  not,  however,  from  the  view  point  of  Jesus'  consciousness,  or 
from  that  of  a  philosophical  analysis  of  his  teaching,  that  this  paper 
studies  the  force  of  his  sayings.  Its  investigation  is  rhetorical  rather. 
Its  inquiry  nearly  amounts  to  asking  :  What  elements  of  power  would 
be  discoverable  in  these  sayings  if  they  were  now  brought  to  light  for 
the  first  time  as  an  anonymous  Palestinian  product  of  the  third 
decade  of  the  first  century  ?  In  other  words  :  Given  the  mental 
quality,  the  mental  resources,  and  the  mental  attitude  of  Jesus' 
hearers,  and  given  also  his  own  total  historic  equipment,  what  ele- 
ments of  special  power  of  expression  can  we  discover  in  liis  words? 

I  omit  the  gospel  of  John  from  the  material  for  study.  For  the 
present  paper  is  specially  concerned  with  form  and  expression,  while 
the  fourth  gospel  betrays  so  many  signs  of  editorial  finish  and  horai- 
letical  purpose  in  its  reworking  of  the  utterances  of  Jesus  that,  for 
the  special  object  of  this  paper,  it  removes  us  too  far  from  his 
original  and  native  forms  of  speech. 

There  is  a  further  limitation  in  the  field  of  the  present  investigation. 
Within  the  Synoptics  themselves  we  study  not  all  the  sayings  of  Jesus, 
but  only  his  comparisons.  This  limitation  is  made  partly  because 
the  comparisons  alone  require  a  much  greater  amount  of  study  than 
this  paper  can  give,  and  partly  because  they  seem  to  the  writer  to  be 
one  of  the  most  trustworthy  portions  of  the  synoptic  record.  Run- 
ning narrative  easily  suffers  interpolations.  Connected,  unfigurative 
teaching  may  be  reduced  or  amplified  to  a  considerable  degree 
without  detection  ;  so  may  fanciful  compound  metaphors  and  long 
and  loosely  articulated  allegories.  But  the  brief,  sharp  strokes  of 
Jesus'  comparisons  are  for  the  most  part  so  clean  cut  and  so  powerful 
that  alterations  would  seldom  be  made.  Those  actually  made  are, 
for  the  most  part,  rather  easy  to  detect,  especially  in  view  of  our 
ability  to  compare  each  Synoptic  with  the  others.  This  textual  claim 
is  here  made  without  proof  simply  to  explain  the  field  of  the  present 
study.  Inductive  evidence  will,  it  is  hoped,  accumulate  as  we  pro- 
ceed and  make  increasingly  evident  the  vivid  and  forceful  quality 
which  only  a  mind  of  similar  power  could  alter  in  any  radical 
way. 

^  Cf.  G.  D.  Boardman,  Sermons  on  the  Mountain  Instruction,  pp.  21-28. 


I08  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

It  would  appear  easy  at  first  sight  to  enumerate  Jesus'  comparisons 
as  given  in  the  Synoptics.  Metaphors,  similes,  and  allegories  or 
parables  would  seem  to  include  them  all.  But  we  have  no  sooner 
made  such  a  list  than  we  are  compelled  to  subject  it  to  extensive 
revision.  The  history  of  language  shows  that  the  basis  of  almost 
any  expression  in  any  tongue  is  a  figure  or  image.  Yet  most  images 
have  been  so  long  employed  to  stand  for  certain  ideas  or  conceptions 
that  they  have  ceased  to  be  recognized  as  images  and  have  become 
verbal  symbols  without  much,  if  any,  pictorial  quality.  The  minds 
of  different  readers,  moreover,  have  a  differing  sense  of  perception 
for  the  pictorial  in  words.  Students  of  words  and  etymology  are 
often  unable  to  read  a  simple  sentence  without  seeing  an  image  in 
every  word.  Others  see  only  those  images  which  are  sharply  out- 
lined and  to  which  attention  is  definitely  called.  Probably  no  two 
persons  would  make  the  same  list  of  metaphors  from  any  extended 
section  of  scripture. 

I.   Certain  Seeming  Metaphors  which  are  not  really  Such. 

I  have  aimed  to  make  the  list  of  Jesus'  metaphors  in  the  Synoptics 
fairly  exhaustive,  but  only  in  the  general  sense  of  including  every- 
thing in  which  there  seems  to  be  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  a  conscious 
mental  image  or  comparison.  I  have  not  included  words  in  which 
etymological  study  reveals  vivid  pictures  provided  it  has  seemed 
clear  that  the  outlines  of  the  image  had  lost  their  sharpness  for 
Jesus,  so  that  the  expression  had  become  a  mere  intellectual  token 
of  exchange  like  the  coin  which  we  pass  for  so  much  money  without 
thinking  of  the  image  or  superscription  it  bears. 

I.  To  this  class  belongs  yfvcrwvrai  Qxva.rov  (Lk.  9-'  ;  cf.  Mt.  16"^ 
Mk.  9^  I  Pet.  2^  Heb.  2"  6''-^).-  Here  to  taste  seems  to  mean  to 
experience,  rather  than  to  test  the  quality  of  a  thing  as  in  our 
English  conception.  yi.v(Ta.\xevo<i  in  Mt.  2f^  has  the  latter  sense. 
Jesus  was  trying  or  testing  the  quality  of  the  stupefying  drink.  But 
in  Heb.  2'  and  in  the  synoptic  passages  cited  above  the  word  seems 
to  have  lost  metaphorical  quality  and  to  mean  hardly  more  than 
undergo  or  experience. 

2  It  will  be  noted  that  the  Synoptic  references  here  and  very  generally 
throughout  this  article,  begin  with  Luke.  In  no  case,  however,  does  this  indi- 
cate an  estimate  of  sources  based  upon  study  of  the  synoptic  problem.  It  arises 
entirely  from  the  fact  that  in  investigating  I  began  with  the  third  gospel,  because 
it  contains  more  comparisons  than  the  first  or  second. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  109 

2.  SaKTvXio  Oeod  (Lk.  11^).  The  Hebrews  often  used  "finger" 
where  we  say  "  hand."  llie  expression  may  possibly  have  had  its 
origin  in  the  conception  that  the"  tables  of  the  law  were  written  by 
the  finger  of  God  (Ex.  3i'«  Ueut.  9"';  cf.  Ps.  S'').  But  when  Jesus 
says  he  casts  out  demons  by  the  finger  of  God  he  probably  means  no 
more  than  power  or  agency. 

3.  (TKuvSj-XiaOij  iv  ifj-OL  (Lk.  7-^).  Cf.  ra  crKavSaXa  (Lk.  i  7').  The 
image  of  a  trap- stick  or  a  trap-trigger  seems  not  to  be  consciously 
present  in  these  passages.  The  noun  is  a  purely  biblical  word, 
occurring  twenty-five  times  in  the  Greek  O.  T.  and  fifteen  times, 
quotations  included,  in  the  N.  T.  (Thayer).  That  this  was  no  longer 
a  case  of  conscious  metaphor  in  Jesus'  day  seems  to  be  indicated  by 
such  a  phrase  as  TreVpa  aKuv8d\ov  in  Rom.  9''->".  Paul's  fervid  style 
sometimes  mixed  metaphors,  but  he  would  hardly  speak  of  a  stone  as 
a  trap-stick. 

4.  TO.  Trp6/3aTa  ra  oLTroXwXora  (Mt.  15-"*;  cf.  lo").  However  picto- 
rial in  religious  art,  this  frequent  O.  T.  expression  had  lost  or  almost 
lost  metaphorical  force  in  Jesus'  day,  at  least  in  cases  where  there 
are  no  details  given. 

5.  d^tcTai  vfxlv  6  otKos  vfji!liv{Lk.  13"^;  cf.  Mt.  23'^).  Here  '  house  ' 
may  be  so  familiar  a  designation  of  the  people  of  God  as  to  call  up 
no  image  of  an  edifice  in  Jesus'  mind,  the  whole  idea  being  simply, 
'Israel  is  abandoned.'  This  conclusion  is  favored  by  the  omission 
in  the  best  text  of  epr]iJ.o<;  qualifying  oIkos. 

6.  i(liLixw6r]  (Mt.  22'-).  'To  be  muzzled'  is  to  the  English  mind 
a  strong  figure  for  speechlessness.  But  the  word  is  so  often  used 
in  the  N.  T.  without  any  detailed  pictorial  item  that  it  probably  had 
for  Jesus  no  figurative  force  (cf.  Mt.  22''^  Mk.  4^^  i-^  Lk.  4'^').  Con- 
ceptions of  the  waves  as  wild  beasts  muzzled  at  Jesus'  word,  however 
graphic,  were  foreign  to  his  mind  (Mk.  4'''). 

7.  TO.  oi/o/xara  v/j-mv  ivyeypawTai  iv  rots  oupavots  (Lk.  lo'^).     Striking 

as  this  figure  is,  the  absence  of  graphic  details  in  the  various  N.  T. 
passages  seems  to  indicate  that  it  meant  for  Jesus  hardly  more  than 
being  saved  in  the  messianic  kingdom.  For  the  general  prevalence 
of  tlie  expression  from  the  earliest  times  onward  see  Ex.  32''-'^' 
Ps.  69-*  Isa.  4'^  Dan.  12^  Phil.  4'  Heb.  12-'^  Rev.  f  if  2oi-'^ 
There  is  indeed  a  sense  in  which,  in  view  of  the  current  Judaistic 
idea  of  books  in  heaven,  Jesus  might  have  used  the  figure  almost 
literally. 

8.  StKutowrcs  iavTov<;  (Lk.  16'"').  Here  again  the  use  of  the  bare 
word  without  pictorial   details  seems  to  argue  the  absence  of  any 


no  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

conscious  comparison  to  judicial  formulae.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
other  instances  of  the  word  in  the  Synoptics  (Mt.  ii^'''  12^''  Lk.  7-'' 
10=^  18"). 

9.  fxrj  fxtrecjpL^tade  (Lk.  12'-^).  This  word  was  no  doubt  often 
used  as  a  metaphor  from  a  ship  tossed  up  and  down  on  the  waves. 
Professor  Henry  Van  Dyke  of  Princeton  seems  to  think  of  the  meta- 
phor as  specifically  chosen  by  Jesus  and  translates  his  meaning  freely, 
"  Neither  be  ye  as  a  ship  that  is  tossed  on  the  waves  of  a  tempestuous 
sea."  ^  It  may  be  added  that  James,  usually  thought  to  be  the  Lord's 
brother,  enlarges  upon  the  tossing  sea  as  an  image  of  a  doubting 
mind  (Jas.  i*'). 

10.  y£F£u  .  .  .  fxoLxaXi^t  (Mk.  8"^).  Li  Jesus'  use  of  this  figure 
there  is  no  mention  of  any  detail  of  marriage  or  espousal  or  putting 
away.  We  have  only  the  bare  word.  And,  strong  as  the  figure  is, 
its  abounding  frequency  in  the  O.  T.  makes  it  probable  that  in  Jesus' 
day  and  for  him  it  meant  but  little  more  than  fickle  or  unfaithful. 

All  these  specific  expressions  which  we  have  dwelt  upon  in  detail 
seem  on  the  whole  to  have  carried  for  Jesus  no  conscious  mental 
comparison.  In  deference  to  writers  who  have  seemed  to  feel  that 
they  were  clear  cases  of  mental  comparison,  I  include  them  in  the 
tabular  lists  shown  on  subsequent  pages,  but  none  of  them  will  be 
used  as  evidence  for  the  positive  conclusions  of  this  paper. 


II.   Certain  Real  Metaphors  which  do  not  seem  to  be  Such. 

On  the  other  hand,  Jesus  has  a  large  number  of  expressions  whose 
outward  fortn  gives  no  hint  of  a?iy  inward  comparison,  while  upon 
closer  scrutiny  they  seem  to  be  clearly  intended  as  similitudes .  It  is 
a  question  of  interpretation,  and  hinges  upon  their  being  literally 
or  figuratively  taken.  We  begin  with  an  instance  from  outward 
nature  and  go  on  to  others  taken  from  bodily  life,  parts  of  the 
body,  bodily  actions,  and  social  relations. 

I.  KaAa/xov  vTio  flvZ/xou  o-uAcTo/xevoi'  (Lk.  7"^  Mt.  ii').  Godet  and 
Alford  think  there  is  in  reality  no  metaphor  here.  The  waving  reed 
merely  signifies  the  Jordan  scenery  of  the  Baptist's  mission.  But 
harmony  with  the  succeeding  description  of  John's  character  as 
being  the  opposite  of  a  richly  clad  courtier  seems  to  require  us  to 
see  in  this  image  the  antithesis  of  an  unwavering  and  unvacillating 
character. 

^  The  Gospel  for  an  Age  of  Doubt,  p.  250  f. 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS     COMPARISONS.  1 1  I 

2.  6~KrfTr]v  i/'i'X^v  avTOV  craiTttt  a.TTo\i(TU  avrrjv  (Lk.  9-*;  cf.  Mt.  lO'^* 
16^  Mk.  S'^).  Tliese  words  cannot  be  taken  literally  any  more  than 
the  bearing  of  one's  cross  mentioned  immediately  before.  Their 
basis  is  that  bodily  life  which  consists  in  the  exercise  of  the  physical 
functions  destroyed  or  dissolved  by  death.  In  the  transferred  mean- 
ing '  life '  is  the  selfishly  chosen  way  of  conducting  all  functions 
whether  of  body  or  mind.  To  purposely  lose  one's  life  in  this  sense 
is  to  let  go,  give  up,  or  abandon  that  self-seeking  mode  of  life,  in  order 
to  conduct  one's  total  existence  along  the  lines  of  the  righteousness 
of  Christ's  kingdom.  The  essence  of  the  self-seeking  life  is  pursuit  of 
one's  own  happiness  or  satisfaction  of  one's  desires.  But  in  the  life 
devoted  to  the  kingdom  and  its  righteousness  this  very  satisfaction 
or  happiness  is  found.  That  is  to  say,  throwing  away  a  satisfied  life 
for  a  lofty  purpose  brings  a  satisfied  life,  while  seeking  self-satisfaction 
leaves  us  dissatisfied. 

3.  <f)ly(»  avTo  (Lk.  22^"  ;  cf.  Mt.  26-'^  Mk.  14"^).  If  Jesus  in  common 
with  his  contemporaries  looked  for  a  literal  and  material  kingdom 
of  God  on  earth  in  which  the  passover  would  be  celebrated,  the 
meaning  is,  of  course,  literal.  But  if,  as  all  his  teaching  tends  to 
show,  he  expected  a  more  spiritual  future  for  the  kingdom,  then  the 
words  are  to  be  taken  in  a  transferred  sense. 

4.  oiSeu  (.TTLv  tuuiOev  tov  avOpwirov  elajropevoixevov  k.t.X.  (Mk.  7  "  ; 
cf.  Mt.  is"*)-  What  Jesus  here  gives  is  simply  a  contrast  between 
food  going  in  at  the  mouth  and  bad  words  coming  out  of  it.  But 
he  intends,  though  not,  of  course,  with  the  physical  details  con- 
sciously in  mind,  a  metaphor  of  digestion.  As  the  body  has  its 
process,  so  the  soul  carries  on  a  complicated  spiritual  digestion 
whose  final  forthcasting  in  word  and  life  is  the  catalogue  of  evil 
words  and  acts  which  he  gives   (Mt.  15^''). 

5.  9pl$  eK  tP/?  /cet^uX^s  .  .  .  d7roAr;rat  (Lk.  21^^;  cf.  Mt.  10"").  This 
frequent  O.  T.  saying  (i  Sam.  14*'  2  Sam.  14"  1  Kings  i'-)  is  not  to 
be  taken  literally  here.  Whatever  may  be  historically  true  as  to  the 
Christian  community  of  Palestine  escaping  the  extermination  which 
overtook  the  Jewish  people  (Godet),  the  interpretation  of  the  parallel 
passage  in  Matthew  seems  to  show  that  Jesus  sets  the  image  of  the 
human  body  before  him  as  representing  the  true  spiritual  self  and 
being  of  the  Christian.  The  hair  of  the  physical  man  might  be 
crisped  in  the  flame  of  persecution,  but,  because  God's  providential 
care  extends  to  the  minutest  portion  of  the  spiritual  man,  not  a  hair 
of  the  latter's  head,  so  to  speak,  should  be  injured. 

6.  d<f)rJKev   oiKtau   rj    yvviuKa    yj    doeX(f>ov<;    k.t.X.    (Lk.    l8""     Mt.    19" 


112  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    I.J  rER.\TURE. 

Mk.  lo-"'*').  Ill  the  new  Christian  society  a  man  might  find  hun- 
dreds of  spiritual  friends  who  would  be  to  him  as  mother  and 
brethren  and  children.  In  his  hour  of  need  their  possessions  might 
be  at  his  disposal.  But  this  literal  or  nearly  literal  interpretation  of 
the  passage  puts  a  great  strain  upon  it  as  given  by  Matthew  and 
Luke,  while  Mark's  "  fx.tra.  Siojy/AuJv  "  seems  positively  to  require  a 
spiritual  meaning.  The  "  eav  fxr],"  too,  seems  to  say  that  unless 
a  man  has  so  forsaken  his  relatives  and  his  goods  as  to  feel  that  he 
receives  an  hundredfold,  he  has  not  really  forsaken  them ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  return  is  inner  and  spiritual. 

7.  Koi  ov  fxiaei:  tov  Tvarepa  k.t.X.  (Lk.  14-^).  To  take  this  literally 
would  impute  to  Jesus  an  unethical  and  immoral  thought.  But  if 
we  may  analyze  again  where  Jesus  does  not,  want  of  natural  affection, 
or  rather  hatred  of  the  objects  of  natural  affection,  is  a  kind  of 
figure  of  spiritual  hatred  of  objects  or  persons  whom  we  naturally 
love.  The  physical  basis  of  the  metaphor  is  in  some  such  passage 
as  Deut.  13^  or  21'^-^  There  stands  the  idolatrous  or  unfilial  son, 
with  his  parents  taking  the  initiative  in  spiritual  hate  by  throwing 
the  first  stone  even  though  it  agonized  their  hearts  to  do  so.  In  like 
manner,  whenever  any  relative,  however  dear,  comes  before  us  in 
imagination  or  even  hterally  as  hindering  from  consecration  to  Jesus 
and  the  interests  of  the  kingdom,  we  are  to  have  a  spiritual  hatred  of 
him,  of  which,  want  of  natural  affection  is  a  symbol  or  figure.  An 
example  in  Jesus'  own  life  is  his  intense  hatred  of  Peter  from  the 
spiritual  view-point  of  consecration  to  his  cross  while  at  the  same 
time  he  intensely  loved  him  as  a  disciple.  "Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan"  (Mt.  i6---''). 

8.  KaOoTt  Koi  avTo<;  vio?  'AjSpadfJ.  iariv  (Lk.  19").  The  fact  that 
Zacchaeus  was  a  Jew  by  birth  does  not  prevent  this  phrase  from 
being  a  metaphor,  as  at  first  sight  might  seem,  for  he  had  been  ex- 
communicated, and  his  conduct  together  with  Jesus'  love  enrolled 
him  in  the  "  Israel  of  God"  (Gal.  6^"). 


III.   Certain  Maxim-principles  which  are  practically 
Metaphors. 

We  come  now  to  passages  of  a  peculiar  sort.  They  are  principles 
in  the  form  of  maxims.  The  maxim,  however,  is  always  concrete, 
and,  as  it  were,  a  figure,  trope,  or  image  of  the  principle.  The  maxim 
is  stated  so  strongly  that  the  literal  interpretation  is  really  absurd, 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULN£SS   IX   JESUS     COMPARISONS.  1 1 3 

although  it  has  sometimes  been  insisted  on  in  some  of  the  passages 
to  be  mentioned. 

1.  oo-ri5  ae  pun-t'^et  cis  rr/v  Se^iav  aiayovj.,  k.t.A.  (Mt.  g-^'-'-^i  Lk.  6'"""*  ^). 
Missionaries  have  in  certain  cases  tried  to  apply  these  directions 
Hterally  to  their  own  conduct  among  the  heathen.  So,  too,  have 
certain  sects  who  practise  non-resistance.  Their  devotion  has  often 
had  very  happy  resuks,  and  it  is  difficult  to  refute  their  interpre- 
tation of  any  single  passage  by  itself.  But  when  we  take  the  present 
one  in  connection  with  the  immediately  succeeding  principle  of  love 
to  one's  enemies,  it  would  appear  that  these  maxims  are  intended 
as  images  of  aggressive  love  which  is  not  content  merely  to  suffer 
in  patience  the  exactions  of  evil,  but  proceeds  to  do  active  and 
voluntary  good  in  the  most  intense  manner  to  the  evil  doer. 

2.  eav  (TKavSaXiayj  ere  7}  x^''p  o-ov,  k.t.X.  (Mk.  9*'"*'  Mt.  5-"  l8*'^). 
The  very  force  and  intensity  of  this  triple  refrain  show  it  to  be  meant 
as  a  principle  in  the  form  of  a  maxim  ;  for  with  Jesus  the  real  cause 
of  sin  is  never  in  anything  external  but  always  in  the  heart,  and 
so  true  is  it  that  he  would  never  counsel  any  injury  to  the  human 
body  that  we  find  not  one  of  all  his  miracles  employed  for  that 
purpose.  Jesus  knew,  moreover,  that  no  physical  remedy  could 
keep  the  heart  from  sin.  Such  a  hyperbole  as  this  was  intended, 
in  the  actual  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  a  strong  and  sudden  stimulus 
to  thought. 

3.  Usually  the  fact  of  metaphorical  intent  is  evident  in  the  case 
of  maxim  principles.  But  it  is  hardly  so  in  the  two  cases  just  men- 
tioned and  in  at  least  one  other,  orav  ttoij^s  dpta-Tov  ■>}  SeL-rrvov,  k.t.X. 
(Lk.  14'-).  This  can  hardly  be  a  maxim  of  elevated  selfishness. 
Jesus'  mention  of  the  man's  being  recompensed  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  just  seems  to  give  it  a  somewhat  parabolic  cast,  as  if  he  were 
saying,  Do  not  live  in  a  bargaining  spirit  of  give-and-get,  but  live  for 
the  next  world. 

4.  Passing  from  the  maxim-principle  metaphors  we  mention  a 
case  of  merely  doubtful  metaphorical  character.  ttAt/v  to.  ivovra  Sore 
iXerjiMoai'vrjv  (Lk.  ii^^).  Godet,  Stier,  and  Others  take  this  as  literally 
referring  to  the  contents  of  the  cups  and  plates  :  Give,  in  love,  of 
your  substance.  Be  unselfish.  That  is  the  true  cleanness.  Have 
that,  and  all  things  are  clean  for  you.  But  Jesus'  antithesis  of  out- 
ward and  inward  illustrated  in  the  whole  connection  points  rather 
to  a  metaphor  :  the  true  material  for  alms-giving  is  within.  Give 
of  your  heart's  love  and  sympathy,  not  for  the  sake  of  show  and 
ostentation. 


114  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

5.  8vo  avi^rjo-av  th  to  lepbv,  k.t.X.  (Lk.  18'").  The  story  of  the 
Pharisee  and  Publican  seems  rather  an  instance  than  a  metaphor. 
But  vs."  ("  Every  one  that  exalteth  himself,"  etc.)  justifies  vs.^  in 
calling  it  a  "parable."  The  parabolic  action  stands  as  a  figure  for 
God's  approval  of  all  true  humility  and  penitence  and  his  disapproval 
of  all  spiritual  pride. 

IV.   Two  Tables  comparing  the  Deutero- Isaiah,  Jesus,  and 

Paul. 

Making  a  list  of  metaphors,  with  deductions  and  additions  along 
the  lines  indicated,  we  find  the  largest  number  in  Luke,  who  seems 
to  have  about  128.  Mark  has  less  than  half  as  many,  that  is,  about 
51,  of  which  8  do  not  occur  in  Luke,  Matthew,  however,  has 
about  116,  28  of  which  are  not  found  in  either  Mark  or  Luke.  The 
total  number  of  separate  comparisons,  then,  given  in  all  three  Synop- 
tics as  uttered  by  Jesus  appears  to  be  about  128  +  8  -f  28,  or  164 
in  all.  So  large  a  number  of  comparisons  would  seem  to  do  away 
at  once  with  the  suspicion  that  their  power  is  owing  to  narrowness 
of  range.  Yet  the  possibility  remains  that  there  may  have  been 
counted  as  separate  comparisons  a  large  number  of  variations  of  the 
same  imagery.  I  have  therefore  made  a  table  in  parallel  columns 
showing  the  tropes  or  comparisons  in  the  twenty-seven  chapters  of 
the  DeuteroTsaiah  ;  those  of  Jesus  from  the  Synoptists;  and  those 
of  Paul  in  the  four  epistles,  Romans,  i  and  2  Corinthians,  and  Gala- 
tians.  The  aim  in  doing  this  has  been  to  secure  a  somewhat  similar 
bulk  of  matter  from  the  noblest  rhetorical  portion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets  and  from  the  writings  of  the  great  apostle,  and  to 
compare  a  list  of  metaphors  exhaustively  made  from  each  of  the  two 
with  the  list  from  the  Synoptics.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  three 
sections  represent  wide  differences  in  mental  processes,  in  truths  to 
be  conveyed,  in  personal  character,  and  in  epoch  and  environment ; 
but  as  all  metaphorical  language  has  a  physical  basis,  we  may  for  our 
present  purpose  neglect  all  these  differences,  and  arrange  the  images 
in  a  purely  physical  or  natural  order.  The  one  I  have  adopted 
classifies  them  under  the  following  heads:  (i)  Inanimate  nature, 
(2)  animals,  (3)  the  human  body,  (4)  family  relations,  (5)  social 
customs,  etc.,  (6)  building,  (7)  agriculture,  (8)  business  or  occu- 
pation, (9)  political,  governmental,  and  judicial,  (10)  military, 
(11)  references  to  existing  scripture.  It  ought  to  be  added  that  in 
estimating  bulk  I  have  used  an  Oxford  minion  octavo  English  Bible 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS,  145 

in  the  Revised  Version.  Of  the  sayings  of  Jesus  in  Luke  there  are 
about  1732  lines,  or  about  i2y^g'\j  double-column  pages.  The  addi- 
tional matter  from  Mark  and  Matthew  increases  the  amount  to  about 
17I-  or  18  pages.  The  Deutero-Isaiah  contains  about  i6.V  pages  of 
the  same  size  and  type.  The  four  epistles  of  Paul  contain  a  much 
larger  quantity,  about  30  pages.  The  number  of  metaphors  in  the 
Deutero-Isaiah  is  about  300,  or  nearly  twice  the  number  Jesus  has  in 
the  Synoptics.  The  number  of  metaphors  of  Paul  in  the  four  epistles 
is  about  245,  or  just  about  one  and  one-half  times  those  of  Jesus  in 
the  Synoptics.  I  have  not  felt  justified  in  taking  a  much  less  bulk 
of  the  Deutero-Isaiah  than  of  Jesus  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  hand  I  have  feared  to  do  injustice  to  Paul  by  omitting  the 
matter  in  any  one  of  his  four  great  epistles.  The  discrepancy  in 
the  number  of  metaphors  taken,  however,  should  be  borne  in  mind 
in  drawing  conclusions  from  the  tables.  There  is  also  a  limiting 
consideration  in  Jesus'  evident  repression  of  all  fanciful  or  purely 
imaginative  elaborations. 

The  primary  object  of  these  tables  is  to  ascertain  the  comparative 
range  of  the  physical  bases  for  ethical  and  religious  comparison  as 
they  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  several  speakers  or  writers.  Hence 
a  second  table  is  added,  which  simply  puts  the  physical  objects  in 
parallel  columns  and  in  the  same  order,  and,  so  far  as  they  corre- 
spond, upon  the  same  horizontal  line,  thus  affording  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  image  world  of  all  three  seen  side  by  side. 

TABLE  I. 

ISAIAH.       I. 

Metaphors  of  Inanimate  Nature. 

"  All  flesh  is  grass  .  .  .  flower  of  the  field  .  .  .  withereth  .  .  .  fadeth  "  40^ 

"  lie  bloweth  upon  them  and  they  wither  "  402*. 

"giveth  them  as  the  dust  to  his  sword  "  41-. 

"  as  the  driven  stubble  to  his  bow  "  41^. 

"  I  will  open  rivers  upon  the  bare  heights  and  fountains  in  the  midst  of  the  val- 
leys :  I  will  make  the  wilderness  a  pool  of  water  and  the  dry  land  springs 
of  water.  I  will  plant  in  the  wilderness  the  cedar,  "the  acacia  tree,  and  the 
myrtle  and  the  oil  tree :  I  will  set  in  the  desert  the  fir  tree,  the  pine,  and 
the  box  tree  together."  4i^*'"-. 

"their  molten  images  are  wind  and  confusion"  41-^. 

"  a  bruised  reed  will  he  not  break  "  42^. 

"  for  a  light  of  the  gentiles  "  42^.  "  make  darkness  light  "  42'^. 

"  and  crooked  places  straight  "  42^^   (governmental). 


Il6  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"  there  is  no  rock  "  44**. 

"  as  a  thick  cloud,  thy  transgressions  "  44''^'-. 

"  sing,  O  ye  heavens  "  44 --^  "  shout,  ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth  "  44'^*. 

"  break  forth  into  singing,  ye  mountains  "  44-^. 

"  O  forest  and  every  tree  "  44-^. 

"make  the  rugged  places  plain"  45-;   see  42I''  and  40*. 

"  treasures  of  darkness  and  hidden  riches  of  secret  places  "  45^. 

"  drop  down,  ye  heavens  ...  let  the  skies  pour  down  ...  let  the  earth  open  "  45^. 

"  peace  as  a  river  "  48^^. 

"  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  "  48'^. 

"  seed  as  the  sand  .  .  .  grains  thereof"  48^^. 

"  them  that  are  in  darkness  "  49^.  "  heat  nor  sun  "  49I''. 

"  Sing,  O  heavens,  be  joyous,  O  earth  .  .  .  O  mountains  "  491^. 

"  the  waves  thereof  roar  "  (animal)  51^^. 

"  sing  together,  ye  waste  places  "   52".       "  the  mountains  shall  depart  "  54^'' 

"  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth  "  55^ 

"  rain  come  down  .  .  .  the  snow  "  55^' 

"maketh  the  earth  bring  forth  and  hud  "  55^''. 

"the  mountains  and  the  hills  .  .  .  singing  "   55'-. 

"  trees  shall  clap  their  hands  "   55'-. 

"  thorn  ...  fir  tree  .  .  .  brier  .  .  .  myrtle  tree  "   55I'. 

"  wind  shall  take  them  "   57".  "  wicked,  like  the  troubled  sea  "  57-". 

"  thy  light  break  forth  as  the  morning  .  .  .  spring  forth  "  58^. 

"  light  shall  rise  in  darkness  "  58'°. 

"  a  watered  garden  ...  a  spring  of  water  "  58'!. 

"look  for  light  .  .  .  darkness"  59^.  "a  rushing  stream"  59^^. 

"rising  of  the  sun  "   59^''.  "  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come  "  60^. 

"  darkness  shall  cover  the  earth  .  .  .  shall  arise  upon  thee  "  60-. 

"fly  as  a  cloud  "  60^.  "  earth  bringeth  forth  her  bud  "  6i'i. 

"  an  everlasting  light  "  Go^^  "  mountains  flow  down  "  641-  3. 

"  fire  causeth  the  waters  to  boil  "  64^. 

"create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  "  65''^  (scripture  ref.). 

"  peace  like  a  river  "  66'-.  "  an  overflowing  stream"  66^2, 

"  your  bones  shall  flourish  like  the  tender  grass  "  66'*. 

"his  chariots  shall  be  like  the  whirlwind"  66^^. 

"  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  "  66''^''^. 

JESUS.       I. 

Metaphors  of  Inanimate  Nature. 

"  salt  of  the  earth  "  Mt.  5'^. 

"clothe  grass  of  the  field"  Mt.  6^'  Lk.  122'-**. 

"the  rock,  the  rain,  the  floods,  the  wind"  Mt.  7^5. 

"  darkness  and  light  "  Mt.  lo^^. 

"a  reed  shaken  .  .  .  wind"  Mt.  11''  Lk.  7"*. 

"tree  good,  fruit  good  "  Mt.  12°^. 

"a  sign  from  heaven  .  .  .  heaven  is  red  and  lowering"  Mt.  16'. 

"  say  to  this  mountain  "  Mt.  17'^^ 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS     COMPARISONS.  I  I  7 

"say  to  this  mountain  "  j\It.  21-^  Mk.  ii-\ 

"lightnin-,'"  Mt.  24-'  Lk.  17-*.  "tig-tree"  Mt.  24^'^  Mk.  1328  l^   2\'^. 

"salted  .  .  .  have  salt  in  yourselves"   Mk.  9''''. 

"  earthquake,  famine  "   Mk.  13*.  "good  tree  .  .  .  corrupt  fruit  "  Lk.  6"**. 

"Satan  fallen  as  lightning"  Lk.  lo^^. 

"to  cast  fire  (firebrand)  upon  the  earth"  Lk.  12*^. 

"cloud,  shower  .  .  .  south  wiml,  heat"  Lk.  12^*  (political  sky). 

"salt  .  .  .  savour"  Lk.  14^'  "The  stones  will  cry  out"  Lk.  ig^^. 

"  stone  .  .  .  shall  scatter  him  as  dust "  Lk.  20^",  see  O.  T. 

"  this  is  your  hour  and  the  power  of  darkness  "   Lk.  22^^. 

"  green  tree  .  .  .  dry  "  Lk.  23-'^ 

PAUL.      I . 

Metaphors  of  Inanimate  Nature. 

"senseless  heart  was  darkened  "   Rom.  1-'. 

"  the  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand"   Rom.  13'^. 

"celestial  bodies  .  .  .  bodies  terrestrial,  sun,  moon,  stars,  star"   i  Cor.  15*''. 

"  light  shine  out  of  darkness  .  .  .  light "  2  Cor.  4^. 


ISAIAH.       2. 
Animals. 


"he  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd,  lambs,  those  that  give  suck"  40^^. 

"  inhabitants  ...  as  grasshoppers  "  40--.    "  snared  in  holes  "  42'^. 

"  mount  up  as  eagles  "  40-^'.  "  a  ravenous  bird  from  the  east  "  46^^ 

"thou  worm,  Jacob"  41^*.  "  they  shall  feed  .  .  .  pasture  "  49^. 

"  moth  shall  eat  them  up  like  a  garment  "  51^. 

"  the  worm  siiall  eat  them  like  wool  "  51^. 

"  as  an  antelope  in  a  net"  5i-'\  "like  sheep  have  gone  astray"  53". 

"  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter  "  53". 

"sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb  "  53'. 

••  gathereth  the  outcasts  "  56*'. 

"  all  ye  beasts  of  the  field,  devour  ...  his  watchmen  are  blind  "  56'-  '*'. 

"  they  are  all  dumb  dogs  .  .  .  bark  .  .  .  slumber  .  .  .  are  greedy  "  56i*^". 

"  I  will  feed  thee  "  58^*.  "  roar  like  bears  "  59'^. 

"  hatch  adder's  eggs"  59^.  "  mourn  like  doves  "  59^^. 

"weave  the  spider's  web"  59^.  "  flocks  be  gathered  "  60''. 

"  as  doves  to  their  windows  "  60^. 

"suck  the  milk  of  the  nations  .  .  .  breast  of  kings"  6oi^. 

"  as  a  horse  "  63^^. 

"as  the  cattle  that  go  down  into  the  valley"  63'*. 

"wolf  and  lamb  .  .  .  lion  .  .  .  o.\  "  65  ''.      "their  worm  shall  not  die"  662*. 


Il8  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

JESUS.       2. 

Anlmals. 

"  holy  unto  the  dogs  "  Mt.  7®.  "  pearls  before  the  swine  "  Mt.  "f. 

"sheep's  clothing  .  .  .  ravening  wolves"  Mt.  7^^ 

"sheep  in  midst  of  wolves  "  Mt.  id^^;   Lk.  lo'^  "lambs." 

"sheep  into  a  pit  .  .  .  man"  Mt.  12".        "vipers"  Mt.  12^*. 

"lost  sheep  of  house  of  Israel  "  Mt.  15-^. 

"children's  bread  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs''  Ml.  15=6  Mk.  72". 

"an  hundred  sheep  "  Mt.  18^2  Lk.  15*. 

"camel  .  .  .  needle's  eye"  Mt.  19^^  Mk.  lo-^  Lk.  i8-^ 

"  strain  out  the  gnat  and  swallow  camel  "   Mt.  23^*. 

"serpents  .  .  .  vipers"  Mt.  23^^;   "serpents  and  scorpions"  Lk.  lo^^. 

"hen  .  .  .  chickens"  Mt.  232"  Lk.  13''*. 

"carcase  .  .  .  eagles"  Ml.  24^8.  "sheep  .  .  .  goats"  Mt.  2532. 

"sheep  of  flock  scattered"  Mt.  26^'^  Mk.  14^^. 

"  fear  not,  little  flock  "  Lk.  1232.  «  an  ass  or  an  ox  into  a  well  "   Lk.  14^ 

"  say  to  that  fox  "  Lk.  13^2^  "  day  come  as  a  snare  "  Lk.  21^*. 

(fish  Mt.  7W.) 

PAUL.       2. 

Animals. 

"  who  feedeth  a  flock  and  eateth  not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock  "  i  Cor.  g'. 

"  ox  "   I  Cor.  9^. 

"  be  not  unequally  yoked  with  unbelievers  "  2  Cor.  6^*  (cf.  Gal.  5^). 


ISAI.'VH.       3. 
Metaphors  of  the  Body. 


"  hollow  of  his  hand  "  /^d^-.  "  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint  "  40^^. 

"  they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary  "  40^1.    "  keep  silence  before  me,  O  islands  "  41^ 

"with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness"  4ii'\ 

"  T  will  hold  thy  right  hand  "  411^.  "  like  a  travailing  woman  "  42I*. 

"  to  open  the  bhnd  eyes"  42^.  "  I  will  bring  the  blind  "  42I6. 

"look,  ye  blind.  .  .  .     Who  is  blind?"  42'*- 1^. 

"  Hear,  ye  deaf  .  .  ."  42'*-  ■''. 

"  Who  is  blind?     .  .  .  blind  "  42^*-  '^  (his  ears  are  open,  but  he  heareth  not). 

"  I  will  bring  thy  seed  from  the  east  "  43^. 

"  bring  forth  the  blind  people  that  have  eyes  "  43^. 

"  and  the  deaf  that  have  ears"  43*.  "  he  feedeth  on  ashes  "  442*^. 

"he  hath  shut  their  eyes"  44^^.  "I  will  loose  the  loins  of  kings"  45^. 

"  a  lie  in  my  right  hand  "  4420.  "  I  will  gird  thee  "  45^ 

"  even  to  hoar  hairs  will  I  carry  you  "  46^. 


ROP.INSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  II9 

which  have  been  borne  by  me  from  the  belly  .  .  .  womb  "  46'  (family) ;  cf.  45^'\ 

thy  neck  is  an  iron  sinew  and  thy  brow  brass  "  48'*. 

from  of  old  thine  ear  was  not  opened  "  48^. 

cut  thee  not  off  "  48^.  "shadow  of  his  hand  "  49^. 

womb  .  .  .  bowels  of  my  mother  "  49^.    "  from  the  womb  "  49^. 

hunger  nor  thirst  "  49'". 

clothe  thee  ...  an  ornament  .  .  .  like  a  bride"  49'^  (social  custom). 

clothes  the  heavens  with  blackness  .  .  .  sackcloth"  50'^ 

tongue  "   50*.  "  ear  to  hear  "   50*. 

my  cheeks  (to  them  that  plucked  off  the  hair)  "  50®. 

shame  and  spitting  "  50'"'. 

mine  arms  shall  judge  the  peoples"  51^. 

awake"  51^  51I"  52'.  "words  in  thy  mouth"   51!^. 

shadow  of  mine  hands  "   5 1  '^. 

put  on  thy  strength  .  .  .  beautiful  garments,  dust,  sit  thee  down  "  52^, 

hath  made  bare  his  holy  arm"  52^'^.        "sing,  O  barren"  54^. 

visage  was  so  marred  "   52'*.  "  every  tongue  "   54I'. 

arm  of  the  Lord  "  53^.  "  eat  that  which  is  good  . . .  fatness  "  55^. 

shall  run  unto  thee  "  55''. 

let  the  eunuch  say  .  .  .  sons  and  daughters  "  56'^-  '\ 

fruit  of  the  lips"  57-^.  "Lord's  hand  is  not  shortened"  59^. 

satisfy  thy  soul  in  dry  places  "  58^^         "  his  ear,  heavy  "   59^. 

conceive  mischief,  bring  forth  iniquity"   59*. 

their  feet  run  to  evil  "  59'. 

grope,  like  blind,  no  eyes,  stumble  .  .  .  dead  men  "   59'". 

righteousness  standeth  afar  off,  truth  is  fallen  in  the  street "  59^*. 

uprightness  cannot  enter  "   59'*.  "  his  own  arm  "   59'^. 

(garments  of)  vengeance  for  clothing"   59'^. 

a  garland  for  ashes"  61*.  "the  garment  of  praise  "  61^. 

he  hath  clothed  me  with  the  garments  of  salvation  "  61I'. 

a  robe  of  righteousness  "  61^".  "  a  polluted  garment "  64^. 

hath  sworn  by  his  right  hand  .  .  .  arm  of  his  strength  "  62*. 

my  servants  shall  eat  ...  ye  be  hungry  .  .  .  drink  ...  be  thirsty  "  65^^. 

an  infant  of  days,  an  old  man  "  652". 

before  she  travaileth  she  brought  forth  .  .  .  pain  "  66'^. 

Zion  travaileth  .  .  .  brought  forth  her  children"  66^. 

breasts  of  her  consolation  "  66^^ 

JESUS.      3. 

Meiaphors  of  the  Body. 

"  hunger  and  thirst  "  Mt.  5^.  (  "  right  cheek  .  .  .  other  also  "  Mt.  5^^ 

"  right  eye  .  .  .  stumble  "  Mt.  5^^.  [  "  coat,  cloke,  mile  "  ;    Lk.  6'^^  "  goods." 

"  right  hand  . . .  stumble  "  Mt.  f^  Mk.  9*8.  "  left  hand  know  .  .  .  right  "  Mt.  6^. 
"mote  .  .  .  beam  in  thine  eye"  Mt.  7^  Lk.  6''i. 

"  dead  bury  dead  "  Mt.  S^'^  Lk.  96^  "  sleepeth  "  Mt.  9-'  Mk.  589  Lk.  952. 

"dust  of  your  feet"  Mt.  lo'^. 
"stumbling"  Mt.  116  Lk.  f-'^  17'  Mt.  i8«'  24!'!  Mk.  9^ 
"stumbling-block"  Mt.  id^^.  "  fall  on  this  stone  "  ISIt.  21**. 


I20  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"ears  to  hear"   Mt.  K^^  Mk.  4-'  Lk.  S^ 

"into  the  mouth,"  digestion  Mt.  i5'i<i'>;    Mk.  713(10),  omits  "mouth." 

"  blind  guide  the  blind  "  Mt.  15I*.  "  blind  guides  "  Mt.  2^^^'-  2^  Lk.  639. 

"flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it"   Mt.  16I". 

"taste  of  death"  Mt.  16-8  Mk.  9I  Lk.  9-'. 

"lose  life  for  my  sake"   Mt.  i6-5  Mk.  S^^  Lk.  9-*. 

"  if  thy  hand  or  thy  foot  .  .  .  stumble  "  Mt.  iS^  Mk.  9''. 

"and  if  thine  eye"  Mt.  iS^  Mk.  9^'.  "eunuchs"   Mt.  19I2. 

"  live  by  bread  "  Lk.  4^. 

"clothed  in  soft  raiment  "  Mt.  11^  Lk.  y^^. 

"sink  into  your  ears"   Lk.  9*1. 

"  Blessed  are  the  eyes  which  see  the  things  "  Lk.  10-*. 

"  arrayed  . . .  clothed  "  Mt.  6^''  Lk.  12-*.     "  not  a  hair  of  your  head  "  Lk.  21'*. 

"  be  clothed  with  power  from  on  high  "  Lk.  24^^^ 

PAUL.      3. 

Metaphors  of  the  BoDY. 

"  who  hold  (down)  the  truth  in  "   Rom.  li*^. 

"a  guide  of  the  Ijlind  "  Rom.  21^.  "throat  an  open  sepulchre"  Rom.  3". 

"  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  "  Rom.  4I'-. 

"  we  who  died  to  sin  "   Rom.  ifl. 

"  were  buried  with  him  .  .  ."  etc.   Rom.  i>^^-. 

"as  alive  from  the  dead"   Rom.  61^. 

"  having  died  to  that  w^herein  "   Rom.  7^. 

"  I  was  alive  apart  ...  I  died  "  Rom.  7^. 

"  good  become  death  unto  me  "  Rom.  7!**. 

"  Christ  in  you  .  .  .  body  is  dead  "  Rom.  S^''. 

"  Walk  not  after  the  flesh  "   Rom.  8*. 

"  If  ye  mortify  the  deeds  of  your  body  "   Rom.  S^^. 

"groan  within  ourselves"   Rom.  S-'';    cf.  "creation  groaneth,"  and  8-",  "  groan- 

ings." 
"I  am  persuaded  that  neither  life  nor  death"   Rom.  8^^. 
"stumbled  at  stone  of  stumbling"   Rom.  9^-. 
"  stumble  that  they  might  fall?  "  Rom.  1 1^. 
"many  members  in  one  body"  Rom.  12*. 
"coals  of  fire  upon  his  head"  Rom.  12^^ 
"  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep  "   Rom.  13!^. 
"  put  a  stumbling-block  in  his  brother's  way  "  Rom.  141^. 
"  do  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth  "   Rom.  1421. 
"  occasions  of  stumbling"   Rom.  16I". 
"  unto  Jews  a  stumbling-block  "  i  Cor.  i^s. 
"  who  among  men  knowelh  the  things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  the  man " 

I  Cor.  2II. 
"your  bodies  are  members  of  Christ  "   i  Cor.  61^ 
"so  let  him  walk  "   i  Cor.  7I". 

"  become  a  stumbling-block  to  the  weak  "   i  Cor.  8^. 
"  meat  make  my  brother  to  stumble  "   i  Cor.  8^^. 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUs'    COMPARISONS.  I  2 1 

"  run  in  a  race,  prize,  games,  crown,  light,  beat  the  air,  buffet  "    i  Cor.  C)-^-''. 

"  baptized  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea  "   i  Cor.  lo'-. 

"tliinketh  he  standeth  "   i  Cor.  lo^'-. 

"give  no  occasion  of  stumbling  "   i  Cor.  lo'-. 

"body,  feet,  ear,  eye,  hearing,  smelling,  eye,  hand,  head,  feet,  uncomely  parts" 

I  Cor.  i2i-'«'. 
"  baptized,  bond  or  free,  drink  "   i  Cur.  \2^'^. 
"they  which  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  "   I  Cor.  15^*. 
"fought  with  beasts"   i  Cor,  15"'^. 

"awake  (out  of  drunkenness)  righteously"    i  Cor.  15^*. 
"put  on  incorruption  "    i  Cor.  15^"^. 

"death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory"  (niilitary?)   i  Cor.  15^*. 
"sting  of  death  is  sin"    i  Cor.  ly''^. 
"swallowed  up  with  his  overmuch  sorrow"  2  Cor.  2'. 
"  hath  blinded  the  mintis  of  the  unbelieving  "  2  Cor.  4*. 
"  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  ...  a  building  from  God  .  . .  longing  to  be  clothed 

upon  with  our  habitation  .  .  .  naked,  mortal,  swallowed  up  "  2  Cor.  5I"*. 
"  giving  no  occasion  of  stumbling  "  2  Cor.  6*. 
"  as  dying  and  behold  we  live  "  2  Cor.  6^. 
"though  we  walk  in  the  flesh"  (war)  2  Cor.  10^. 

"  who  is  made  to  stumble  ?  "   2  Cor.  1 1-^.    "  be  running  or  had  run  in  vain  "  Gal.  2-0 
"a  thorn  in  the  flesh"   2  Cor.  12".  "walked  not  uprightly"  Gal.  2^*. 

"died  unto  the  law"  Gal.  2^^. 

"  (crucified  with  Christ  and)  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live"  Gal.  2p-'^. 
"(my  little  children)  of  whom  I  am  again  in  travail"  Gal.  4^^;   cf.  Rom.  8^^. 
"  ye  were  running  well  "  Gal.  5". 
"stumbling-block  of  the  cross"  Gal.  5^'. 
"cut  themselves  off  "  (or  mutilate)  Gal.  51'^, 
"walk"  Gal.  5I6  5^5  616. 
"  bear  ye  one  another's  burdens  "  Gal.  6-. 
"  bear  his  own  burden  "  Gal.  (y\  "  God  is  not  mocked  "  Gal.  6'^. 


ISAL4H.      4. 
Family  Relations. 


"woe  unto  him  that  saith  to  a  father  'what  begettest  thou?'"  45^". 

"  or  to  a  woman  '  with  what  Iravailest  thou?  '  "  45^*^;    body,  cf.  Gal.  4^^. 

"  I  shall  not  sit  as  a  widow  .  .  .  loss  of  children  "  47**. 

"  her  sucking  child  "  49^^. 

"taketh  her  by  the  hand  of  all  the  sons"  51'^. 

"  thy  widowhood  "  54*. 

"  is  thine  husband,  .  .  .  redeemer  ...  as  a  wife  "  54^. 

"  sons  of  the  sorceress  .  .  .  adulterer  .  .  .  whore  "  57^. 

"  children  of  transgression,  a  seed  of  falsehood"   57^. 

"no  more  be  termed  F'orsaken  .  .  .  Desolate"  62''''. 


122  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"thou  shalt  be  called  Ilephzibah  .  .  .  Beulah  "  62<- •''. 

"  for  as  a  young  man  marrieth  a  virgin,  as  ihe  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the 

bride"  62^-"\ 
"  thou  art  our  father  "  63I''.  "  ye  shall  suck  (thereof)  "  66>-. 

"  thou  art  our  father  "  64^  "  ye  shall  be  borne  upon  the  side  "  6612. 

"  dandled  upon  the  knees  "  66^2. 
"as  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth"  66^^. 


JESUS.      4. 

Family  Relations. 

"  his  son  shall  ask  a  loaf  .  .  .  stone  "  Mt.  7^- '". 

"  his  son  shall  ask  a  fish  .  .  .  serpent "  Mt.  y^-  'o. 

"  children,  how  much  more  .  .  .  father  which  is  in  heaven?"  Mt.  7". 

"  didst  reveal  them  unto  babes"  Mt.  II'-^. 

"behold,  mother  and  brethren"  Mt.  12^^  Mk.  3^*;    Lk.  8-I,  "these  which  hear." 

"a  little  child"   Mt.  iS^. 

"suffer  the  little  children;    for  of  such  "   Mt.  ig''*  Mk.  lo^*. 

"  first  .  .  .  shall  be  servant  "  Mt.  ao^s  Mk.  lo**-  *''. 

"out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings"  Mt.  21^*^. 

"  man  had  two  sons  .  .  .  vineyard  "  Mt.  21-^. 

"  evil  servant  "  Mt.  24-''. 

"  house,  brethren,  sisters,  mother,  father,  children,  land,  hundred  fold  "  Mk.  lO^^; 

cf.  Mt.  I9'9  Lk.  i8'^^  "wife." 
"man  sojourning  .  .  .  commanded  porter"  Mk.  13^*. 

"babes"  Lk.  lo'-i.  "two  sons  .  .  .  'give  me'  "  Lk.  15II. 

"  neighbor  unto  him  that  fell  "  Lk.  lo^^.    "  receive  ...  as  a  little  child  "  Lk.  iS^'. 

PAUL.       4. 

Family  Relations. 

"a  teacher  of  babes"  Rom.  2-\ 

"  a  woman  that  hath  a  husband  "  Rom.  7'-^. 

"  children  of  God  "  Rom.  8^''. 

"  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ "  Rom.  8^''. 

"  first-born  among  many  brethren  "   Rom.  8-^. 

"  children  of  the  flesh  ...  of  God  ...  of  the  promise  "  Rom.  9^. 

"  as  unto  babes  in  Christ "   i  Cor.  3^.         "  as  my  beloved  children  "   I  Cor.  4^*. 

"  ten  thousand  tutors  .  .  .  not  many  fathers  (begat)  "   i  Cor.  4}^. 

"  come  unto  you  with  a  rod  ?  "   i  Cor.  4^1. 

"when  I  was  a  child  I  spake  as  a  child"   i  Cor.  13^'. 

"be  not  children  in  mind"   I  Cor.  14'^'';    cf.  Gal.  4^. 

"corruption  inherit  incorruption  "   i  Cor.  15^*^. 

"  I  speak  as  unto  my  children  "   2  Cor.  G^'^ 

"  children  ought  not  to  lay  up  for  the  parents  "  2  Cor.  12'*, 

"hath  been  our  tutor"  Gal.  3-^-25  (cf.  i  Cor.  4!^^  Rom.  2-"). 

"  no  longer  under  a  tutor  "  Gal.  ^-*-  -\ 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS   IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 23 

'heirs  according  to  promise"  Gal.  3-'' (cf.  I  Cor.  15^'^  {supra)  and  Rom.  4^^). 
•  receive  the  adoption  of  sons  "  Gal.  4^^.    "  my  little  children  "  Gal.  41'-'. 
'  the  household  of  faith  "  Gal.  6^''. 


ISAIAH.       5. 

Metaphors  of  Social  Customs. 

"  Lebanon  is  not  sufficient  to  burn,  nor  the  beasts  for  a  burnt  offering  "  40^''. 

"  the  heavens  as  a  curtain  ...  as  a  tent  "  ^O^'^, 

"  a  dimly  burning  wick  will  he  not  quench  "  42''. 

"  stretched  forth  (the  heavens)  "  42^.         "  quenched  as  a  wick  "  43^^. 

"  lift  up  (their  voice)  "  42^1.  "  who  hath  fashioned  a  god  "  44^''. 

"  stretched  forth  the  heavens  alone  "  44'^^. 

*'  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name,  I  have  surnamed  thee  "  45'*. 

"stretched  forth  the  heavens"  45^'. 

"  Bel  boweth  down,  Nebo  stoopeth  "  46I. 

"such  as  lavish  gold  out  of  the  bag,  silver,  balance,  goldsmith,  god"  46®. 

"  my  salvation  shall  not  tarry  "  46^3. 

"sit  in  the  dust,  O  virgin  daughter,  millstones,  meal,  veil,  train,"  etc.  ^"J^^: 

"they  shall  be  as  stubble;   the  fire  burn  them"  47^^. 

"power  of  the  flame  .  .  .  not  to  warm  at,  nor  to  sit  before"  47^*. 

"  a  light  to  the  gentiles "'  49*^.  "  set  my  face  like  a  flint "  50''. 

"wax  old  as  a  garment  .  .  .  the  moth  "  50''. 

"  (rock  whence  ye  were  hewn),  pit  whence  ye  were  digged"  51I. 

"  for  a  light  "   51*.  "  like  smoke  "  51^. 

"  wait  for  me  .  .  .  mine  arm  "  51^.  "  wax  old  like  a  garment  "  51^. 

"  drunk  the  cup  of  his  fury  .  .  .  bowl  of  the  cup  of  staggering  "  51!^. 

"  drunken,  but  not  with  wine  "  51'^^. 

"  cup  of  staggering,  cup  of  my  fury  "  51^^. 

"bow  down"  51-''.  "  rest  in  their  beds  "  57^. 

"hast  enlarged  thy  bed"  57®. 

"  that  inhabiteth  eternity  .  .  .  dwell  in  "  57^^. 

"  take  away  the  yoke  "  58^. 

"  the  putting  forth  of  the  finger  "  58^. 

"  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  ...  as  a  bride  "  61^'^ 

"  neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched  "  66^*. 

JESUS.      5. 
Metaphors  of  Social  Customs. 

"  light  of  the  world  "  Mt.  5I*. 

"  lamp  of  the  body  ...  eye  "  Mt.  622  Lk.  i  r^*. 

"  seek  .  .  .  find  "  Mt.  f- »  Lk.  1 1^.  "  knock  .  .  .  opened  "  Mt.  f-  ^  Lk.  1 1- 

"  come  from  east,  and  west,  and  recline  "   Mt.  8^^ 

"outer  darkness,  weeping,  and  gnashing"  Mt.  8^2  22^3, 


124  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"  sons  of  hridechambei-  mourn  .  .  .  fast  "   Ml.  g^^  Mk.  2!^  Lk.  58*. 

"undressed  cloth  on  old  garment"  Mt.  c/^'-^~  Mk.  2-i--'2;   "cut  new  garments'- 

Lk.  5»«. 
"  new  wine  into  old  skins  "  Mt.  9I'  Lk.  5^^  Mk.  222. 
"children  in  market-place"   Mt.  Ii^''  Lk.  f^'^. 
"yoke  and  burden"  Mt.  ii^s  Lk.  11^6. 
"leaven  which  a  woman  took  and  hid"  Mt.  I3*'5  Lk.  1321. 
"leaven  of  Pharisees"  Mt,  168  Mk.  8^^  Lk.  12'. 

"bind  on  earth  "  Mt.  i6i9  18I8.  "  drink  the  cup"  Mt.  2o22  Mk.  lO^s. 

"a  king  ...  marriage  feast  "  Mt.  22';    "wedding-garment"   22^1. 
"  bind  heavy  burdens  "   Mt.  23''. 
"outside  of  cup  and  platter"   Mt.  23-5  Lk.  ii^". 

"whited  sepulchres"  Mt.  23-''.  "tombs  which  appear  not"  Lk.  n^*, 

"ten  virgins  .  .  .  lamps"   Mt.  25^. 
"  took  bread,  body  "  Mt.  262«  Mk.  14^2  Lk.  22I9. 
"  will  not  eat  it  until  "  Lk.  22i'\ 
"took  a  cup,  my  blood"  Mt.  262"  Mk.  142^-25, 
"  drink  it  new  "  Mt.  262!*. 

"let  this  cup  pass"  Mt.  263^  Mk.  14^^';   "remove"  Lk,  22*2. 
"  except  I  drink  it "  Mt.  26*2. 

"  lamp  . . .  under  bushel,  bed, ...  not  on  stand  "  Mk.  421  Lk.  S^^;  Lk,  11^3, "  cellar." 
"  adulterous  "  Mk.  S^s. 

"baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with"   Mk.  lo^s  i25\ 
"for  alms  the  things  within"   Lk.  il*i. 
"  loins  girded  about  and  lamps  burning"   Lk.  123^. 
"men  looking  for  their  lord  .  .  .  marriage  feast"  Lk.  12^^. 
"in  what  hour  the  thief  was  coming"  Lk.  12^^  Mt.  24*3. 
"den  of  robbers"  Mt.  2ii3. 

"  servant  .  .  .  lord  .  .  .  shall  be  beaten  "   Lk.  1 2*''. 

"  Satan  hath  bound  "  Lk.  13I6.  "  Marriage  feast . , .  chief  seat  "  Lk.  14^ 

"when  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper  .  .  .  poor  "   Lk.  14^2, 
"a  certain  man  made  a  great  supper  "   Lk.  14^6. 
"lose  piece  of  silver  .  .  .  candle  .  .  .  sweep"  Lk.  15^*. 
"rich  man  and  Lazarus"   Lk.  l6i^. 

"  servant  ploughing  or  keeping  sheep  ...  sit  down  "  Lk,  1 7''. 
"two  men,  temple,  to  pray,  Pharisee  and  publican"  Lk,  17^". 
"  purse,  wallet  "   Lk.  223'', 

PAUL.      5. 

Metaphors  of  SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 

"written  in  their  hearts"  Rom.  2^'^. 

"  a  Hght  of  them  that  are  in  darkness  "  Rom,  2^^. 

"the  uncircumcision  which  is  by  nature  judge  thee?"  Rom.  22". 

"a  Jew  .  .  .  inwardlv;   and  circumcision  ...  of  the  heart  "   Rom,  22^. 

"hope  putteth  not  to  shame"  Rom.  5^. 

"  in  me  .  .  .  dwelleth  no  good  thing  "   Rom.  7^*. 

"  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him  "   Rom.  9^2, 

'•  if  their  fall  is  the  riches  of  the  world  .  .  .  riches"   Rom.  11^2. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS   IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 25 

"O  the  depth  of  the  riches"  Rom.  ii*^     "filth  .  .  .  offscouring"   i  Cor.  4^'^. 

"a  little  leaven,  purge  a  new  lump,  keep  the  feast,  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity 

and  truth  "  i  Cor.  5*  Gal.  5^. 
"no  company  with  fornicators"   I  Cor.  5'. 
"  ye  were  washed  "   I  Cor.  6'i. 

"  cannot  drink  of  the  cup  of  the  lord,  and  the  cup  of  devils,  table  "  i  Cor.  10-'. 
"pipe,  harp,  trumpet"    i  Cor.  14'. 
"so  many  kinds  of  voices  in  the  world  "   I  Cor.  14'^'^. 

"  weighed  down  exceedingly  "  2  Cor.  i^.    "  and  anointed  us,  is  God  "  2  Cor.  i--. 
"  ye  are  our  epistles  .  .  .  ink  .  .  .  tables  that  are  hearts  "  2  Cor.  3-. 
"who  put  a  veil  upon  his  face"  2  Cor.  3!-^;   "veil  unlifted,  taken  away"  15^^ 
"  if  our  gospel  is  veiled  . .  .  veiled  "  2  Cor.  4^. 
"this  treasure,  earthen  vessels"  2  Cor.  4'. 

"  bearing  about  "   2  Cor.  41°.  "  I  overflow  with  joy"   2  Cor.  7*. 

"  a  godly  jealousy  :   for  I  espoused  you  to  one  husband  .  .  .  virgin  "  2  Cor.  II^. 
"  strength  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me  "  (Gr.  spread  tabernacle  over  me)  2  Cor.  12*. 
"  I  was  not  a  burden  to  you"  2  Cor.  12^'^-^*. 
"  openly  set  forth  crucified  "  GaL  3I. 


ISAIAH.       6, 

Buildings. 


"  to  open  the  doors  before  him  .  .  .  gates  "  45I. 

"  doors  of  brass  .  .  .  bars  of  iron  "  45'^. 

"hath  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth"  48'^. 

"  stretched  forth  the  heavens  "  51^*.  "  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth  "  51I''. 

"lay  the  foundation  of  the  earth"  51^®. 

"  the  place  of  thy  tent  .  .  .  curtains  .  .  .  cords  .  .  .  stakes  "  54'-. 

r  "  set  thy  stones  in  fair  colors  and  lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires  "... 

1^  "  thy  pinnac;les  of  rubies,  thy  gates  of  carbuncles  "  54^^-  ^-. 
"  thy  gates  shall  be  open  "  60II. 
"thy  walls  Salvation  and  thy  gates  Praise"  60^*. 
"  build  the  old  wastes  .  .  .  raise  up  ,  .  .  repair  "  61*. 

JESUS.      6. 

Buildings, 

"by  the  narrow  gate''  Mt.  7'^.  "  upon  this  rock  will  I  build"  Mt.  16'*. 

"  inner  chamber,  housetop  "  Mt.  lo^''.      "  gates  of  Hades  "  Mt.  i6i^. 

"keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  "  Mt.  16'";   "bind  on  earth." 

"pit,  tower"  Mk.  12I. 

"  house,  digged  deep,  foundation,  rock,  flood,  stream  "  Mt.  7-*  Lk.  6*®. 

"key  of  knowledge:   ye  entered  not"  Lk.  ii''^. 

"strive  to  enter  in  by  narrow  door"  Lk.  I3"'^*. 

"  house  desolate  "  Lk.  13='^  Mt.  23"*.        "build  a  tower  .  .  .  count  cost"  Lk.  14®. 

("  unclean  spirit  gone  out"  Mt.  12*^). 


126  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

PAUL.       6. 

Buildings, 

"whereby  we  may  edify  one  another"  Rom.  14I',  also  15^. 

"not  build  upon  another  man's  foundation"  Rom.  i^'^^. 

"  I  laid  a  foundation  .  .  .  buildeth  .  .  .  revealed  in  fire  "  I  Cor.  2^^'  ^» 

"  ye  are  a  temple  of  God  .  .  .  dwelleth  "   i  Cor,  3^^. 

"your  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit  "   i  Cor.  6^^. 

"but  love  edifieth"   i  Cor.  8^. 

"  if  he  is  weak,  be  emboldened  "  (Gr.  be  builded  up)   i  Cor.  8^". 

"ediheth  himself.  .  .  edifieth  the  church,"  "edifying"  i  Cor.  14^*. 

"  a  great  door,  and  effectual  is  opened  "   i  Cor.  16^. 

"  a  door  was  opened  unto  me  "  2  Cor.  2^^. 

"  what  agreement  hath  a  temple  of  God  "  2  Cor.  6^^ 

"  for  building  you  up  "  2  Cor.  lo^.  "  for  your  edifying  "  2  Cor.  12^^ 

"  for  building  up  and  not  for  casting  down  "  2  Cor.  13^^. 

"  are  reputed  to  be  pillars  "  Gal.  2^.         "  if  I  build  up  again  "  Gal.  2^^ 


ISAIAH.       7. 

Metaphors  of  AGRICULTURE. 

"  have  not  been  planted  .  .  .  been  sown,  taken  root,  wither  as  stubble  "  ip"^^. 

"  a  new  sharp  threshing  instrument  having  teeth,  beat  them  small,  fan,  scatter " 

4 1 15.  16. 

"  pour  water  on  him  that  is  thirsty  "  44^. 

"  spring  up  among  the  grass  "  44*.  "  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  "  53^. 

"as  willows  by  the  water  courses"  44*.    "as  a  leaf"  64^. 

"  plant  the  heavens  "  51^^,  "  wine  in  the  cluster  "  65^ 

"  as  a  tender  plant "  53-.  "  as  the  days  of  a  tree  "  6522, 

JESUS.      7. 

Metaphors  of  AGRICULTURE. 

"  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles  "  Mt.  7^^. 

"  harvest  .  .  .  labourers  few  "  Mt.  9^"  Lk.  lo^^. 

"galhereth  not  .  .  .  scattereth  "  Mt.  \z^'^. 

"sower  to  sow"  Mt.  \f  Mk.  i^«-  Lk.  S^. 

"kingdom  of  heaven  .  .  ,  man  that  sowed  good  seed"  Mt.  132*, 

"grain  of  mustard  seed"  Mt.  i-f^  Mk.  4^1  Lk.  1319. 

"every  plant  .  .  .  planted  not"  Mt.  ii;i^. 

"  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed  "  Mt.  ly^o  Lk.  178. 

"bringing  forth  fruit"  Mt.  2\^^, 

"  east  seed  upon  the  earth,  .  .  .  sleep  and  rise  "  Mk.  4*9, 

"  thorns  .  .  .  figs,  bramble  bush  .  .  ,  grapes  "  Lk.  6**. 

"  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looking  back  "  Lk.  9^2, 

"  had  a  fig-tree  planted  in  his  vineyard  "  Lk.  13^ 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  I  2  7 

PAUL.       7. 

Metaphors  of  AGRICULTURE. 

"have  some  fruit  in  you  "  Rom.  i^'*.         "  what  fruit  then  had  you?  "  Rom.  6-^-  —. 

"  bring  forth  fruit  unto  God"  Rom.  y''- ^. 

"  if  root  is  holy  so  are  branches  "  Rom.  1 1'^, 

*'  that  I  might  be  grafted  in  "  Rom.  1 1^^;    cf.  -'. 

"  I  planted,  Apullos  watered  "   I  Cor.  3^;   "  husbandry  (tilled  land)  "  3^. 

"  who  planteth  a  vineyard  and  eateth  not  "   i  Cor.  9". 

"  If  we  sowed  unto  you  .  .  .  reap"   I  Cor.  9^'. 

"  sowest  .  .  .  bare  grain  .  .  .  wheat"    i  Cor.  15^'. 

"  He  that  sowtth  sparingly  shall  reap  "  2  Cor.  (f. 

"  He  that  supplitth  seed  to  the  sower  and  bread  for  food  "  2  Cor.  g^''. 

"The  fruit  of  the  Spirit"  Gal.  5-2. 

"  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  .  .  .  reap  "  Gal.  6';   "  in  due  season  .  .  .  faint  not." 


ISAIAH.      8. 

Metaphors  of  Business  or  Occupation. 

measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  measure,  weighed  in  scales,  bal- 
ance "  40I-. 

as  a  drop  of  a  bucket  ...  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  "  40^^. 

a  potsherd  among  the  potsherds  of  the  earth  "  45^. 
'  shall  the  clay  say  to  him  that  fashioned  it "  45^. 

I  have  refined  thee  .  .  .  silver  "  48^''.      "  in  the  furnace  of  affliction  "  48^". 

which  of  my  creditors  "   50^ 
'sold  for  nought,  redeemed  without  money  "  52^. 

the  smith  that  bloweth  the  fire  .  .  .  bringeth  forth  a  weapon  "  54^®. 

come,  buy  .  .  .  spend  money"  55^-.      "thou,  our  potter"  64^. 

JESUS.      8. 

Metaphors  of  Business  or  Occupation. 

"fishers"  Mt.  a^  Mk.  i^^  "poor  in  spirit"  Mt.  5^ 

"  catch  men  "  Lk.  51".  "  received  their  reward  "  Mt.  6^^. 

"  treasures  upon  the  earth  "  Mt.  G-^. 

"  whole,  physician,  sick  "  Mt.  9I2  Lk.  581  Mk.  2". 

"  Physician,  heal  thyself"  Lk.  4"-^.  "  out  of  his  good  treasure  "  Mt.  12^^ 

"  whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given  "  Mt.  13^-. 

"a  treasure  hidden  in  the  field"  Mt.  13**. 

"a  merchant  seeking  pearls"  Mt.  13*^.  "a  net  cast  into  the  sea"  Mt.  13''^. 

"a  householder  which  bringeth  forth  .  .  .  new  and  old"  Mt.  13^2, 

"reckoning  .  .  .  10,000  talents"  Mt.  iS-^. 

"and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven"  Mt.  1921  Mk.  lo^i. 


128  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"a  householder  which  went  out  ...  to  hire  labourers"  Mt.  20^. 
"householder  which  planted  a  vineyard"   (hire)    Mt.  21^^  Lk.  20^  Mk.  12^  (agri- 
culture). 
"man  going  into  far  country  .  .  .  talents"   Mt.  2^^*. 

"shepherd"  Mt.  25-^-;    cf.  sheep.  "  treasure  of  his  heart  "  Lk.  6''5, 

"  shepherd  "  Mt.  26'^i.  "  a  lender  .  .  .  debtors  "  Lk.  7*1. 

"good  measure"   Lk.  63^;    cf.  Mt.  7^.       "rich  toward  God"  Lk.  12-I. 
"purses  which  wax  not  old,  treasure  in  the  heavens"  Lk.  12''-^. 
"rich  man  .  .  .  steward  "  Lk.  16'. 
"  (into  a  far  country  to  receive  a  kingdom)  gained  by  trading  "  Lk.  ig^^  (pounds). 

PAUL.       8. 

Metaphors  ^/Business  or  Occupation. 

"I  am  a  debtor  both"  Rom.  i^*. 

"  treasurest  up  for  thyself  wrath  "   Rom.  2*. 

"wages  of  sin  is  death"  Rom.  6--^.  "  we  are  debtors"  Rom.  8^2. 

r  "  shall  the  thing  formed  say  .  .  .  potter  "  Rom.  920-  21. 

[  "vessels  of  wrath  fitted  unto  destruction"  Rom.  g^-. 
"  owe  no  man  anything  save  to  love  "  Rom.  13^. 
"we  were  enriched  in  him"   I  Cor.  i^. 
"  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God  "    i  Cor.  4^. 
"  already  are  ye  filled  .  .  .  are  become  rich  "   i  Cor.  4^. 
"  ye  were  bought  with  a  price  "   i  Cor.  b-^  7-3. 
"  defraud  not  one  the  other  "   i  Cor.  7^. 
"  abide  in  that  calling  wherein  he  was  called  "   i  Cor.  720. 
"  I  have  a  stewardship  "   i  Cor.  9^^. 
"  the  earnest  of  the  spirit  "  2  Cor.  i^'"'  5^ 

"  corrupting  (making  merchandise  of)  the  word  of  God  "  only  2  Cor.  iP . 
"  as  poor  yet  making  many  rich  "  2  Cor.  6^'. 

"  though  rich  .  . .  became  poor  .  .  .  might  become  rich  "  2  Cor.  8^. 
"  (Titus)  my  partner  and  fellow-worker  "  2  Cor.  8-^. 
"ye  being  enriched  in  everything"  2  Cor.  g^^. 
"spend  and  be  spent"  2  Cor.  121^. 


ISAIAH.      9. 

Political  or  Governmental  (and  Legal.) 

"  Prepare  the  way  .  .  .  make  level  a  highway  "  40'. 

"The  isles  saw  and  feared  .  .  .  trembled  .  .  .  drew  near"  41^;    cf.  "keep  silence" 

4ii. 
"  Israel,  my  servant  "  41*.  "my  servant"  41^. 

"to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  dungeon"  42". 
"  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison-house  "  42''. 
"  my  servant  (whom  I  have  chosen)  "  4,i^\ 


ROBINSON:     FORCKFUI.NESS    IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 29 

"hast  made  me  to  serve  "  43'-''.  "Jacob,  my  servant  "  44-. 

"  them  that  are  bound  "  49^. 

"  bill  of  your  mother's  divorcement  "  50I. 

"my  servant"  521^. 

"prepare  the  way,  take  up  the  stumbling-block  "  57^*. 

"  loose  the  bonds  of  wickedness  "  58**.     "  ride  upon  the  high  places  "  58'*. 

"  saviour  and  redeemer,  Mighty  One  of  Jacob  "  60^''. 

"  crown  of  beauty  ...  a  royal  diadem  "  62^. 

"  go  through  the  gates,  prepare  the  way,  gather  out  the  stones,  ensign  "  62^". 

"  Heaven  is  my  throne,  and  the  earth  is  my  footstool "  66^. 


JESUS.      9. 

Political  or  Governmental  {and  Legal). 

"  disciple,  master,  servant,  lord  "  Mt.  10-*. 

"take  his  cross"  Mt.  lo^s  i6-'*  Mk.  83-1  Lk.  928. 

"every  kingdom  .  .  .  divided,  .  .  .  every  city,  house"  Mt.  12^5  Lk.  il^'^  Mk.  3-^--'. 

"  exercise  authority  .  .  .  become  great "  Mt.  20-*-  -^  Mk.  lo'*'  43  Lk.  22^5. 

"names  written  in  heaven"  Lk.  10-''. 

"going  with  thine  adversary  before  magistrate"  Lk.  12^^. 

"  Galilaeans  whose  blood  Pilate  ...  in  like  manner"  Lk.  13^-3. 

"  unrighteous  judge  .  .  .  widow"  Lk.  18-". 

"  into  a  far  country  to  receive  a  kingdom  "  Lk.  19I2. 

PAUL.       9. 

Political  or  Governmental  {and  Legal). 

"  Paul,  a  servant "  Rom.  i^ 

"  thoughts  .  .  .  accusing  or  else  excusing  "  Rom.  iS^. 

"no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight  "  Rom.  32'. 

"  death  reigned  through  the  one  "  Rom.  zp. 

"they  that  receive  .  .  .  reign  in  life  through  the  one"  Rom.  5". 

"  no  longer  be  in  bondage  to  sin  "  Rom.  6^. 

"  death  no  more  hath  dominion  "  Rom.  6''. 

"let  not  sin  reign  "  Rom.  61'. 

"  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  "  Rom.  6'*. 

"  His  servants  ye  are  "  Rom.  6^'^^-\   "servants  .  .  .  servants  .  •  .  made  free." 

"servants  to  uncleanness  .  .  .  servants"  Rom.  6'^-  --. 

"  the  law  hath  dominion  over  a  man  "  Rom.  7^. 

"'  sold  under  sin  "  Rom.  7I*.  "  Jesus  made  me  free  from  "  Rom.  8'. 

"  received  not  the  spirit  of  bondage  .  .  .  adoption  "  Rom.  8^^. 

"  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  "  Rom.  82^. 

"ye  have  reigned  without  us  .  .  .  reign  "  I  Cor.  4*. 

"judging  them  that  are  without"   i  Cor.  5'^. 

"am  I  not  free"?   I  Cor.  9^. 

"  brought  myself  under  bondage  to  all "   i  Cor.  9^^. 

"  there  is  liberty  "  2  Cor.  3^''.  "  might  bring  us  into  bondage  "  Gal.  2*. 


130  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"  not  justified  by  works  ,  ,  .  justified  by  faith  "  Gal.  2^^. 

"  no  man  is  justified  by  the  law  "  Gal.  3^^. 

"were  held  in  bondage"  Gal.  4^.  "yoke  of  bondage  "  Gal.  5^. 

"ye  were  in  bondage  "  Gal.  4^.  "  against  such  there  is  no  law"  Gal.  5^ 

"  the  world  hath  been  crucified  unto  me  "  Gal.  6^*. 


ISAIAH.       10. 

Military. 


"  her  warfare  is  accomplished  "  40-.  "  go  forth  as  a  mighty  man  "  42^'. 

"  stir  up  jealousy  like  a  man  of  war  "  42^^. 

"like  a  sharp  sword"  49'-^.  "in  his  quiver"  49^. 

"  a  polished  shaft  "  49^.  "  go  before  you  , . .  your  rearward  "  5212. 

"  divide  him  a  portion  .  .  .  the  spoil  "  53'2. 

"  no  weapon  shall  prosper  "  54^'.  "  go  before  thee  . .  .  thy  rearward  "  58®. 

"  lift  up  thy  voice  Hke  a  trumpet  "  58^.      "  repairer  of  the  breach  "  58^2^ 

"  desolation  and  destruction  are  in  their  paths  "  59^. 

"way  of  peace  they  know  not  "  59*;   "  crooked  paths." 

"  breastplate  .  .  ,  helmet "  59"  "  fought  against  them  "  63^'*. 

"  sword  .  .  •  bow  down  to  the  slaughter "  65I2. 

JESUS.      10. 

Military. 

"  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword  "  Mt.  10**. 

"men  of  violence  take  it  by  force"  Mt.  ii^'^. 

"nation  against  nation"  Mk.  138. 

"strong  man  fully  armed  guardeth  "  Lk.  ii^i  Mt.  12'^^. 

"encounter  another  king  in  war  .  .  .  10,000"  Lk.  14^1. 

"  buy  a  sword  "  Lk.  22^^. 

PAUL.       10. 

Military. 

"  warring  against  .  .  .  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  "  Rom.  y^^. 

"what  soldier  ever  serveth  at  his  own  charges?"  i  Cor.  g''. 

"  leadeth  us  in  triumph"  2  Cor.  2^*. 

"  savour  .  .  .  savour,  from  death  unto  death  "  2  Cor.  2^^. 

"  we  are  ambassadors  "  2  Cor.  5-". 

"  by  the  armour  of  righteousness  "  2  Cor.  6''. 

j  "  we  do  not  war  according  to  the  flesh  .  .  .  weapons  .  .  .  warfare  "... 

[  "strongholds  .  .  .  every  high  thing,  captivity,  obedience,  envy"  2  Cor.  10^^. 

"bringeth  you  into  bondage"  2  Cor.  Il^o. 

"  devoureth  you  "  2  Cor.  1 1^°. 

"taketh  you  captive"  2  Cor.  Il^o. 

"  exalteth  himself"  2  Cor.  ii^''. 

"smiteth  you  on  the  face  "  2  Cor.  il®'. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  I3I 


ISAIAH.       II. 

O.  T.  References. 

"when  thou  passest  through  the  waters"  42^;   cf.  431^. 

"saith  to  the  deep,  Be  dry"  44^". 

"  clave  rock  .  .  .  waters  gushed  out  "  48-'. 

"dry  up  the  sea"  50^.  "like  Eden"  51'. 

"that  cut  Rahab  in  pieces,  that  pierced  the  dragon"  51^, 

"  dried  up  the  sea,  the  waters  of  the  great  deep  "  $1^'^. 

"  waters  of  Noah  "  54^ 

JESUS.       1 1 . 

O.  T.  References. 

"jot  or  tittle  "  Mt.  5I8.  «  Elijah  is  come  "  Mk.  9IS;  of.  Mt.  17I2. 

"sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob"  Mt.  S^^  Lk.  1329. 

"wisdom  is  justified  by  her  works"  Mt.  ii^^. 

"  of  all  her  children  "  Lk.  78^. 

"stone  which  builders  rejected,  that  stone"  Mt.  21*2  Mk.  lai"  Lk.  20". 

"Jonah  .  .  .  Ninevites,  Son  of  Man,  this  generation  "  Lk.  II^". 

"Queen  of  South,  judgment,  Solomon"  Lk.  il^^. 

"Men  of  Nineveh  shall  stand  up"  Lk.  ii^^^ 

"They  killed  them  (prophets)  and  ye  build"  Lk.  ii*^. 

"  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  "  Mt.  62^  Lk.  12^^^. 

"as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah  .  .  .  flood"  Lk.  ly^s  Mt.  24". 

"  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Lot  .  .  .  Lot's  wife  "  Lk.  17^8  32^ 

"  He  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham"  Lk.  19®. 

"  Satan  .  .  .  sift  as  wheat "  Lk.  22''. 

PAUL.       II. 

O.  T.  References. 

"  not  sinned  after  the  likeness  of  Adam's  transgression  "  Rom.  5^*. 

"  they  are  not  all  Israel,  which  are  of  Israel  "  Rom.  9*. 

"  I  have  left  for  myself  7000  men  who,"  etc.,  Rom.  11*. 

"shall  bruise  Satan"  Rom.  16^''. 

"  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve"  2  Cor.  II'. 

"  messenger  of  Satan  "  2  Cor.  12^.  "  Abraham  had  two  sons  "  Gal.  4^. 


TABLE  II. 
I.  Inanimate  Nature. 


DEUTERO-ISA'AH. 

JE9U3. 

PAUt 

I  darkness 

I   darkness 

I  darkness 

2  light 

2  light 

2  light 

3  sun 

3  sun 

JOURNAL    OF    lUBLICAL    LITERATURE. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

3  heavens,  earth 

4  heat 

5  wind 

6  cloud 

7  rain 

8  grass 

9  (overflowing  stream) 

10  rock 

1 1  mountain 

12  dust 

13  fire 

14  reed 

15  tree 

16  (waste   places,  wilder- 

ness, spring) 

17  morning  (sun) 

18  sea 

19  sand 

20  valley 

21  river 

22  snow 


4  heavens 

5  heat 

6  wind 

7  cloud 

8  shower 

9  grass 

10  floods 

11  rock 

12  mountain 

13  dust 

14  fire 

15  reed 

16  tree 

17  waterless  places 

18  morning 

19  (sea) 


4  moon 

5  stars 


20 

salt 

21 

earthquake 

22 

evening 

23 

lightning 

II.   Animals. 

DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

JESUS. 

PAUU 

I  sheep 

I 

sheep 

I  sheep 

2    ox 

2 

ox 

2  ox 

3  clog 

3 

dog 

4  adder 

4  serpents  (vipers) 

5  eagle 

5 

eagle  (vulture) 

6  snare 

6 

snare 

7  worm 

7 

worm 

8  moth 

8  moth 

9  lamb 

9 

lamb 

' 

10  bear 

II  dove 

10 

dove 

12  lion 

13  horse 

14  antelope 

15  grasshopper 

16  spider 

II 

swine 

ROKINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS     COMPARISONS. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH 


JESUS. 

12  wolves 

13  goat 

14  fox 

15  fish 

16  ass 

17  camel 

18  scorpion 

19  gnat 

20  hen 

21  chicken 


III.   Parts  (^and  Activities^   of  the  Body. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

1  blind  (eye) 

2  dead 

3  awake 

4  foot 

5  deaf 

6  hand  (right) 

7  clothe  (robe) 


8  walk 

9  run 

10  travail  (womb) 

11  hunger;    12  thirst 

13  mouth   (lips,  tongue, 

spitting) 

14  cheek 

15  eunuch 

16  hair 

17  gird  (loins) 

iS  neck;    19  brow 
20  breasts;   21  arm 


,     JESUS. 

1  blind  (eye,  right  eye) 

2  dead  (tlesli  and  blood) 

3  sleep  (awake) 

4  foot 

5  ear  (hear) 

6  hand  (right  and  left) 

7  clothing 

8  stumble 

9  (goeth  to  battle) 

10  head 

1 1  burial 


12  hunger;    1 3  thirst 

14  mouth 

15  cheek 

16  eunuch 

17  hair 

18  loins  girded 

19  neck 

20  (taste) 

21  digestion 

22  finger 

23  coat 


1  blind  (eye) 

2  dead  (life  and  death) 

3  sleep  (awake) 

4  foot 

5  ear 

6  hand 

7  clothing  (naked) 

8  stumble 

9  fight 

10  head 

1 1  burial 

12  walk 

13  run 

14  travail 

15  smelling 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 


1  sucking  child 

2  children 


IV.   Family  Relations. 

JESUS.  PAUL. 

1  babes  (and  sucklings)  i   babes 

2  children  2  children 


134 


JOURNAL   OF   BIBLICAL   LITERATURE. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

JESUS. 

PAUL. 

3  father 

3  father 

3  father 

4  son 

4  son 

4  son 

5  brethren 

5  brethren 

5  husband 

6  husband 

7  tutor 

8  heir 

6  mother 

7  widow 


6  mother 

7  sister 

8  neighbor 

9  porter 

lo  servant  (household 
servant) 


V.    Metaphors  from  SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 

DEUTERO-ISAIAH.  JESUS.  PAUL. 


1  wick 

2  drink  (cup)  (drunken) 

3  bridegroom 

4  yoke 


5  dwell  (tarry) 

6  veil 


7  bed 

8  digging  out  of  a  pit 

9  waiting 

10  millstones 

11  bow  down,  burnt  offer- 

ing 

12  fire  (stubble,  flint) 

13  sit  before  a  fire  (smoke) 

14  to  name  (a  child) 

15  sit  in  dust 


1  a  light  (lamp) 

2  drink  (cup) 

3  bridegroom  (virgins) 

4  burden  (yoke) 

5  "ch 

6  leaven 

7  wash 

8  treasure 

9  dwell 


10  piped 


1  a  light  (darkness) 

2  drink  (cup) 

3  espouse 

4  burden 

5  rich  (riches) 

6  leaven  (feast) 

7  wash 

8  treasure 

9  dwell 
ID  veil 

11  anointing 

12  music    (pipe,    harp, 

trumpet) 

13  writing 

14  circumcision    (uncir- 

cumcision 


11  bed 

12  digging   (an  animal) 

out  of  a  pit 

13  waiting  (for  their  lord) 

14  millstone 

15  going  up  to  temple  to 

pray 

16  fire  (burn  tares) 


17  seek  (find) 

18  knock  (open) 

19  sons  of  bridechamber 


ROBINSON  :     FORCEFULNESS   IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS. 


^35 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 


JESUS. 

20  marriage  feast 

21  dinner,  supper 

22  chief  seat 

23  cup  and  platter 

24  servant  and  lord 

25  take  bread  (eat) 

26  bushel 

27  lamp-stand 

28  heating 

29  recline  (at  table) 

30  binding 

31  weeping  and  gnashing 

32  patching 

33  sweeping 

34  putting  wine  into  skins 

35  children  playing 

36  whiting  sepulchres 

37  giving  alms 


VI.    Metapho7-s  from  BUILDING. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

1  build  (and  repair) 

2  foundation  (stones) 

3  door  (bars) 


4  gate 

5  stretch  a  tent 

6  pinnacles 

7  walls 


JESUS. 

1  build 

2  foundation  (dig  deep) 

3  door 

4  house 

5  gate 

6  tents 

7  pinnacle  (of  the  temple) 

8  pit  (in  a  vineyard) 

9  tower 

10  building  upon  rock 

11  building  upon  Jrtwd^ 

12  key 

13  inner  chamber 

14  housetop 

VII.  Agriculture. 


1  edify 

2  foundation 

3  door 

4  temple 

5  pillars 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

1  root 

2  (leaf) 

3  planting 


JESUS. 

1  root 

2  branches 

3  sow  (sower,  seed) 

4  fruit 

5  harvest  (laborers) 


PAUU 

1  root 

2  branches 

3  sow  (plant,  seed) 

4  fruit 

5  reap 


1^6 


JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

4  pour  water  on 

5  wither 

6  tree,  willow 

7  dry  ground 

8  wine  in  the  cluster 

9  thresh  (beat,  fan) 


JESUS. 

6  planting 

7  wither 

8  fig-tree  (figs) 

9  good  and  bad  soil 

10  vineyard 

1 1  grapes 

12  blade,  ear,  corn 

13  ploughing 

14  thorns 

15  tares 

16  thistle  (bramble) 

17  mustard  seed 

18  digging  and  dunging 

19  gather  into  barns 


6  watering  (and  planting) 

7  grafting 


VIII.   Business  or  Occupation. 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

1  creditors 

2  measure  (buy) 


3  potter  (potsherd) 

4  spend 


5  weigh 

6  sell 

7  smith  (fire,  weapon) 

8  refining  (furnace) 


JESUS. 

1  debtors 

2  good  measure 

3  treasure  (rich) 

4  hire  (reward) 

5  spend  (all),  purse 

6  steward 


7  lender 

8  talents,  pounds 

9  shepherd 

10  fisher  (net) 

11  physician 

12  pearl  merchant 

13  householder 

14  go  to  a  far  country 

15  gain  by  trading 


1  debtor  (owe) 

2  buy  (price) 

3  treasure  up 

4  wages 

5  potter  (vessels) 

6  spend  (be  spent) 

7  steward  (stewardship) 

8  defraud 

9  partner 

10  corrupt  (/ca7n7\ei)w) 

11  earnest  (of  the  spirit) 


ROBINSON  :     KORCEFULNICSS    IN    JESU.s'    COMPARISONS. 


137 


IX.     POLITICAI.   OR   GoVIiUNMKNTAl,    (AND    LeGAL). 


DEITERO-ISAIAH. 

1  throne  (fuotstoul) 

2  bound 

3  servant 


4  prison-house 

5  tremble 

6  prepare  the  way 

7  bill  of  ilivorct-ment 

8  ride  upon  high  places 

9  redeemer 
10  crown 


DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 

1  warfare 

2  breastplate,  helmet 

3  weapon,  sword 

4  mighty  man 


5  spoil 

6  peace 

7  quiver,  polished  shaft 

8  rearward 

9  trumpet 


JESUS. 

1  king  lom 

2  bound 

3  servant 

4  go  before  magistrate 

5  justify 

6  judge 

7  cross 

8  prison 

9  exercise  authority 


10  lord 

11  names  written 

12  "to  far  country  to  re- 

ceive a  kingdom  " 

13  Pilate  (Galilaeans) 

14  city 

X.   Military. 

JESUS. 

1  war  (warfare) 

2  armour,  fully  armed 

3  sword 

4  10,000  (soldiers) 

5  ambassage 

6  take  by  force 

7  (conditions  of  peace) 

8  guardeth  his  palace 

9  spoil 
10  peace 


1  reign  (dominion) 

2  bondage  (liberty) 

3  servant 

4  nccusiiig  (excusing) 

5  justify 

6  judge 

7  crucify 


1  war 

2  armour 

3  weapon 

4  soldier 

5  ambassadors 

6  captivity 

7  triumph 

8  stronghold 

9  savour  of  life  (of  death) 


XI.   References  to  Existing  Scripture. 


PEUTERO-ISAIAH,  JESUS.  PAUL. 

1  Abraham,  Isaac,  and       i  Abraham,  two  sons 

Jacob 

2  son  of  Abraham 


JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 


DELTERO-ISAIAH. 


1    Eden 


JESrS. 

3   Wisdom,  her  children 
(Proverbs) 


4  Noah,  flood 


PAUL. 

2  Messenger    of   Satan 

(Jol>) 

3  Adam's  transgression 

4  Israel 

5  7,ooo  in  Israel 

6  bruise  Satan 


2  Noah,  waters 

3  Raha') 

4  cleave  rock  (water) 

5  \  sea  dried  up 

6  /  pass  through 

5  Queen  of  South 

6  Solum jn 

7  killed  the  prophets 

8  jot,  tittle 

9  Elijah 

10  Jonah 

11  Men  uf  Nineveh 

12  Lot,  Lot's  wife 

Table  I.  gives  the  metaphors  in  the  order  of  chapter  and  verse, 
and  is  intended  for  use  in  verifying  the  items  in  the  Hsts  of  objects 
in  Table  II.,  as  well  as  to  enable  the  reader  to  see  by  means  of 
catch-words  the  general  context  of  the  nmnerous  ol)jects  itemized  in 
Table  II.  The  latter  merely  names  the  objects  used  as  the  physical 
bases  of  the  metaphors,  iri  order  that  the  extent  of  the  image-world, 
shown  in  the  three  sections  of  description  which  are  compared,  may 
be  estimated  without  the  presence  of  distracting  considerations.  It 
furnishes  conclusive  evidence  of  the  superior  extent  and  scope  of  the 
image-world  of  Jesus,  who  has  more  physical  objects  and  relation- 
ships in  his  inind  ready  for  actual  use  in  making  comparisons  of  eth- 
ical and  spiritual  truth  than  either  the  Deutero-Isaiah  or  Paul.  Our 
second  table  enables  us  to  eliminate  at  a  glance  the  imagery  common 
to  all  three,  or  to  any  two.  Following  the  order  of  divisions  as  indi- 
cated previous  to  giving  the  tables,  (i)  we  find  Paul  exceedingly 
meagre  in  images  from  inauiinate  nature.  What  he  does  have  are 
exceedingly  common  :  darkness,  light,  sun,  moon,  stars.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  we  compare  Jesus  with  the  Deutero-Isaiah,  we  find 
that,  although  we  make  our  deductions  from  twice  as  many  meta- 
phors of  the  latter  as  of  the  former,  the  number  of  different  images  is 
almost  exactly  the  same.  It  is  somewhat  singular  that  the  few  which 
are  not  identical  give  us  in  the  case  of  the  prophet  of  the  great 
Asiatic  revolution,  the   peaceful  objects,  "  valley "  and   "  river,"  as 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 39 

peculiar  to  himself,  while  the  peculiar  ones  in  the  quiet  life  of  Je.sus 
include  "earthquake"  and  "lightning."  (2)  In  the  a//ima/  wovUi 
Paul  again  appears  with  almost  no  mental  capital  as  compared  with 
Jesus.  The  Deutero-Isaiah  has  prominent  wild  animals,  —  the  bear, 
the  lion,  the  antelope,  —  which  Jesus  never  mentions  :  but  Jesus' 
list  of  the  domestic  creatures  gives  him  a  decidedly  wider  total  range 
of  animal  objects  than  has  the  prophet.  (3)  In  parts  and  functions 
of  the  body  Paul's  list,  though  very  much  larger  than  under  (i)  and 
(2),  lacks  the  important  items  of  mouth,  cheek,  eunuch,  hair,  loins, 
neck,  which  Jesus  uses.  The  Deutero-Isaiah,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
closely  in  line  with  Jesus,  and  shows  about  an  equal  number. 
(4)  Under  family  relations  it  is  significant  to  find  the  tender  words 
"mother"  and  "sister,"  which  are  wanting  in  Paul's  list,  present  in 
that  of  Jesus.  The  range  of  the  Deutero-Isaiah  is  slightly  narrower 
under  this  head  also.  (5)  In  the  social  and  home  life  Jesus  finds 
twice  as  many  objects  and  activities  with  which  to  compare  ethical 
and  spiritual  truth  as  are  found  by  Paul  or  the  prophet.  A  mere 
glance  at  the  table  shows  his  wealth  in  image-objects  taken  from 
common  life.  (6)  In  matters  of  building  and  the  house,  Jesus  has 
the  homelike  details  of  "  key,"  "  inner  chamber,"  and  "  housetop  "  ; 
and,  again,  his  objects  are  more  numerous.  (7)  In  the  agricultural 
list,  Jesus  does  not  use  "  threshing,"  but  he  has  a  long  list,  including 
"grapes,"  "  blade,  ear,  corn,"  etc.,  peculiar  to  himself.  (8)  Jesus' 
business  parables,  his  references  to  "  fishers,"  "  physicians,"  and  to 
"  merchants,"  again  furnish  objects  in  which  he  goes  decidedly 
beyond  the  others.  (9)  In  political  and  governmental  matters,  the 
peculiarities  are  somewhat  evenly  balanced  as  between  Jesus  and  the 
Deutero  Isaiah,  while  Paul  seems  to  have,  if  anything,  the  narrowest 
range  even  here.  (10)  In  military  matters,  there  is  perhaps  not 
much  difference;  but  (11)  in  reference  to  existing  scripture,  Jesus 
seems  to  have  in  mind  a  decidedly  larger  number  of  the  great  out- 
standing characters  of  Hebrew  history  than  has  either  Paul  or  the 
great  prophecy. 

Taking  Table  II.  as  a  whole,  then,  it  would  seem  to  show  that, 
while  the  Deutero-Isaiah  has  a  fuller  flow  of  poetical  imagery,  the 
number  of  separate  objects  which  his  metaphors  and  comparisons 
handle  is  somewhat  less  than  that  of  Jesus.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
equally  evident  that  if  the  intensity  and  power  which  sometimes 
come  from  narrowness  of  range  is  to  be  attributed  to  either  Jesus  or 
Paul,  it  must  be  to  Paul ;  for  in  number  of  objects  used  for  com- 
parison Jesus  is  quite  evidently  far  his  superior. 


140  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

V.   Two  Preliminary  Remarks. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  direct  enumeration  of  the  elements  of 
forcefulness  in  Jesus'  comparisons,  two  preliminary  remarks  may  be 
in  order.  The  first  is  that  in'  analyzing  the  methods  by  which 
Jesus  secured  his  power  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  he  delib- 
erately educated  himself  or  disciplined  himself  along  the  lines  to  be 
indicated.  Much  less  was  he  so  educated  by  human  teachers.  But 
the  most  powerful  and  spontaneous  utterances  of  poets,  statesmen, 
and  seers,  spoken  without  consciousness  of  the  elements  of  their 
power,  may,  nevertheless,  subsequently  be  analyzed  into  those  ele- 
ments. The  sudden  and  unconscious  synthesis  of  a  great  soul  may 
be  capable  of  a  deliberate  and  extended  analysis  by  another,  and,  it 
may  be  added,  a  far  smaller  soul.  The  value  of  the  analysis  for  the 
smaller  soul  is  that  it  enables  it  much  more  fully  to  comprehend  the 
greatness  of  the  greater  one. 

The  other  preliminary  remark  is,  that  in  making  comparisons 
between  the  sayings  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  those  of  the  Rabbis 
and  the  parallel  ones  of  Jesus,  it  is  not  intended  to  assert  that  in 
every  case  the  previous  saying  was  the  source  from  which  Jesus  drew 
the  material  for  his  own.  In  most  cases  it  was  ;  but,  however  that 
may  be,  the  comparison  will  serve  equally  well  for  estimating  the 
power  of  Jesus'  utterance  ;  and,  in  all  cases  where  Jesus  and  the  one 
with  whom  he  is  compared  were  both  drawing  upon  a  common  tra- 
ditional source  of  popular  material,  the  comparison  of  the  two  again 
serves  equally  well  for  estimating  their  relative  strength. 


VI.    First  Element  in  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Comparisons  : 
The  Radicalness  of  their  Physical  Bases. 

The  first  positive  element  in  the  power  of  Jesus'  comparisons  is 
the  extreme  or  radical  nature  of  the  material  basis  on  which  they 
are  constructed.  To  enforce  a  truth  or  principle  Jesus  often  com- 
pares it  with  some  object,  action,  or  relation  which  is  the  most 
radical  of  its  class  in  quandty,  or  quality,  or  intensity  of  quality. 
The  righteous  sliine  not  as  the  stars  or  as  tlie  brightness  of  the 
firmament  (Dan.  12^),  but  as  the  sun  (iKXa/jnl/ova-tv  ws  6  ijAio? 
Mt.  13*^).  If  it  were  objected  that  the  Old  Testament  poet  can 
speak  of  the  light  of  the  sun  as  sevenfold,  as  the  light  of  seven 
days  condensed  into  one  (Isa.  30'"),  we  could  at  once  answer  that 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS     COMPARISONS.  I4I 

Jesus  never  oversteps  the  modesty  of  nature,  and  would  gain  no 
real  power  by  doing  so.  But  on  a  subsequent  page  we  shall  take 
up  the  whole  question  of  Jesus'  nearness  to  nature  as  a  source  of 
metaphorical  power.  Satan  falls  from  heaven  not  as  the  day  star 
(Is.  14''),  for  Jesus  intensifies  the  slow-falUng  luminary  into  the 
down-flashing  lightning  (is  daTpaTrr'jv,  Lk.  lo^*),  even  as  his  disciples' 
success  in  casting  out  the  demon  underlings  is  intensified  into  the 
fall  of  Satan  their  head.  The  same  extreme  of  motional  brilliancy 
is  used  to  figure  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  {aa-rp-nrrj  dcTTpd- 
TTTovaa,  Lk.  17'^;  cf.  Mt.  24-'^).  The  exceeding  minuteness  which 
is  consistent  with  the  great  possibilities  of  growth  in  incipient  f:iith 
is  imaged  by  the  smallest  of  seeds  which  grows  to  be  a  tree  {kokkov 
atvaTrews,  Lk.  17''  Mt.  13'^^).  The  net  which  gathers  every  kind  of 
character  out  of  the  world-sea  is  a  drag-net,  which  moves  along  the 
very  bottom  {o-ayrjvrj,  Mt.  13^^. 

If  we  pass  on  from  .inanimate  to  animate  nature,  the  most  despised 
and  most  loathsome  of  creatures  is  used  by  Jesus  to  describe  his 
Pharisaic  enemies  (oe^sts,  yewrj/xnTJ.  ixi-Sv^v,  Mt.  2^'''^^).  The  radical 
quality  of  the  comparison  is  quite  clear  apart  from  associations  with 
Genesis  3.  Nor  could  there  be  any  more  radical  image  of  Judaism's 
corruption  and  dissolution  than  the  carrion-seeking  vultures  winging 
their  way  toward  a  dead  body.  Habakkuk  (i**)  tells  of  the  vulture 
that  hasteth  to  devour  ;  Job  (39"")  says  that  where  the  slain  are, 
there  is  she  ;  and  Ezekiel  summons  the  birds  and  beasts  to  drink 
blood  at  the  slaughter  (39^')-  But  Jesus  condenses  all  this  into  the  one 
radical  picture  of  the  vultures  just  settling  upon  a  corpse  (Lk.  17""). 
His  figure  of  the  camel  going  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  is  so 
radical  that  it  makes  the  interpretation  of  the  passage  extremely 
difficult  (Lk.  18-'). 

To  the  same  category  of  radical  quality  belong  certain  images 
taken  from  the  human  body  and  its  death.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
think  of  a  more  minute  preservation  of  the  body  than  not  to  have 
a  hair  of  the  head  perish  (Lk.  21'**).  And  to  make  sure  that  no  one 
of  them  does  perish  Jesus  has  each  one  numbered  (Mt.  10""),  wliich 
is  more  radical  still  than  not  letting  them  fall  to  the  earth  (i  Sam.  14^^ 
2  Sam.  14"  I  Kgs.  r''^.  The  thing  nearest  to  the  hand  that  gives  is 
the  other  hand,  and  to  endow  it  with  capacity  to  know  what  its 
neighbor  hand  is  doing  unless  that  neighbor  acts  with  extreme  se- 
crecy, furnishes  us  with  the  most  radical  image  possible  for  modest 
giving  (Mt.  6'').  To  cut  off  a  hand  or  a  foot,  or  to  cut  out  an  eye 
is  so  radical  an  act  of  self- mutilation   that   its  very  radicalness  has 


142  JOURXAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

opened  men's  eyes  to  the  metaphorical  quahty  of  the  passage,  al- 
though the  words  themselves  do  not  go  beyond  the  literal  (Mk.  g^''" 
Mt.  5-'^'-  iS**-").  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  in  order  to  express  abso- 
lute renunciation  of  married  life  Jesus  uses  as  a  figure  the  mutilation 
which  makes  marriage  physically  impossible  (Mt.  19^-).  All  that 
a  man  hath  will  he  give  in  exchange  for  his  life,  yet  it  is  by  a 
metaphor  of  life  that  Jesus  expresses  his  great  axiom  of  finding  the 
highest  good  in  complete  self-abandonment  to  the  kingdom  of  God 
(deX^  rqv  4'^'Xh^  avTov  crSycrat,  (ZTroAeVei  uvttJv,  Lk.  Q""*  ;    cf.   Mt.   lo"'    16""' 

Mk.  8^').  The  obverse  metaphor  of  death,  the  culmination  of 
physical  evils,  has  a  similar  radical  force  ("Acjn^  rois  veKpov?  6d\f/uL 
Tous  eavTwv  yeKpov'i,  Lk.  9**).  And  when  the  dead  body  is  put 
underground  with  darkness  and  the  worm  it  furnishes  the  most 
radical  image  of  hidden  corruption  (otrrewi/  vcKpCuv  kul  Trdar]<i  aKa- 
^apcnas,  Mt.  2y'  ;  cf.  Lk.  ii-*^). 

Passing  to  family  relationships  we  find  equally  radical  compari- 
sons. Jesus  likens  his  simple-hearted  disciples  not  to  youths  or 
children  but  to  babes.  N->;7r6ois  (Lk.  lo"^  Mt.  ii"^),  in  classical  Greek 
practically  signifies  'fool'  or  'simpleton';  Jesus  does  not  use  the 
word  in  quite  so  bad  a  sense  as  that,  but  it  does  represent  the 
extreme  of  the  unlearned  and  inexperienced.  The  strongest  and 
most  tender  ties  are  used  to  depict  his  love  for  his  true  disciples. 
They  are,  each  of  them,  a  combination  of  mother,  brother,  and 
sister  (Mt.  i2^''-'"  Mk.  3''*-^*  Lk.  8-').  On  the  other  hand  so  strange 
and  terrible  a  thing  as  want  of  natural  and  conjugal  affection  was 
none  too  intense  a  figure  for  spiritual  aversion  to  even  friendly  hin- 
drances to  com])lete  consecration  (fxtcrci  t6v  Trareja  k.t.X.,  Lk.  14'®). 
The  O.  T.  basis  of  the  figure  gives  it  a  still  more  radical  temper.-' 

The  incidents  connected  with  social  customs  are  often  portrayed 
in  the  strongest  language.  Those  admitted  to  the  feast  of  the  king- 
dom sit  down  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  while  those 
excluded  are  gnashing  their  teeth  (Lk.  j ^'^^ "^' ■*' "'^ ;  cf.  Ps.  112"^). 
The  feast  to  which  the  grace  of  the  kingdom  is  compared  has 
abundant  room,  even  after  the  denizens  of  the  streets  and  lanes 
have  come  in,  for  those  found  in  the  country  highways  and  hedges 
(Lk.  14-^"-").  On  the  contrary  the  parable  of  the  feast  that  shows 
the  judgment  of  the  kingdom  upon  those  who  make  light  of  the 
invitation  whether  by  staying  away  or  by  coming  in  to  it  with  inso- 
lent disregard  of  the  etiquette  of  dress,  contains  a  corresponding  set 
of  radical  or  extreme  details.      The  host   is  a  king  ;   the  guest  of 

^  See  the  remarks  on  this  verse  on  page  112. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 43 

honor,  his  own  son;  and  the  occasion,  his  marriage  (Mt.  22'-). 
Similar  flippancy  of  conduct  toward  '•  av^/xuTrds  rts  "  (Lk.  14'")  would 
be  comparatively  excusable.  The  men  who  decline  the  invitation 
are  murderers  ((^oreTs,  Mt.  22").  He  who  accepts  but  appears  with- 
out the  garment  is  not  only  cast  out,  but  bound  hand  and  foot 
beforehand.  Another  radical  touch  belonging  here  is  the  casting 
of  the  children's  bread  to  the  dogs  (Mk.  f  Mt.  15""),  where  the 
contrast  between  the  animal  scavengers  and  the  children  is  extremely 
sharp.  So  radical  indeed  is  the  utterance  as  applied  to  the  Syro- 
Phoenician  woman  that  it  keeps  the  apologists  of  Jesus'  gentleness 
busy  in  his  defence.  We  may  also  mention  giving  what  is  holy  to 
dogs  and  casting  pearls  before  swine.  Stronger  figures  for  useless 
pleading  with  hostile  stupidity  are  not  easy  to  imagine.  In  Lk.  i2'^*^''^- 
the  image  of  men  waiting  for  their  lord  is  intensely  drawn.  The 
force  of  the  figure  lies  in  its  representing  the  servants  as  standing 
through  the  long  night  watches  with  robes  gathered  up  at  the  girdle 
and  lighted  lamp  in  hand,  ready  to  spring  to  the  door  on  the  instant. 
This  might  be  the  case  of  men  who  knew  their  master  would  be  at 
the  door  in  a  few  minutes,  but  to  keep  up  that  alert  attitude  without 
relaxation  through  the  second  or  third  watch  indicates  continuous 
intensity  of  faithful  expectation  in  a  most  vivid  picture.  The  rever- 
sal of  the  expected  relation  of  service  into  that  of  being  served  is 
also  a  powerful  touch  (verse  "').  Yet  again  the  gluttony,  drunkenness, 
and  servant-beating  of  the  unfaithful  upper  servant  and  his  being 
cut  asunder,  in  Lk.  I2**'''"',  constitute  a  picture  of  extreme  blackness 
of  outline.  If  that  interpretation  of  Lk.  I2'''  (cf.  Mk.  10''^)  which 
makes  it  represent  Jesus  as  being  immersed  in  flame  and  coming 
forth  a  living  fire-brand  is  correct,  this,  too,  is  a  very  powerful  image. 
But  in  Mk.  10"''*  it  is  perhaps  more  natural  to  think  of  the  baptismal 
element  as  v/ater,  than  as  fire. 

If  we  interpret  the  figure  of  the  unfinished  tower  in  Lk.  14-**  to 
mean  that  before  becoming  Jesus'  disciple  a  man  must  count  the  cost, 
as  a  builder  estimates  the  cost  of  his  building,  the  comparison  has  no 
very  extraordinary  force.  But  if  we  decide  upon  the  interpretation 
that  Christ's  follower  must  be  willing  to  appear  as  ridiculous  as  a 
man  appears  who  goes  forward  with  a  building  although  he  knows 
he  cannot  complete  it  then  the  illustration  has  unique  strength. 
The  very  power  of  the  figure  as  thus  taken  has  perhaps  prevented 
its  being  thus  taken.  We  may  add  that  the  contrasted  crash  and 
endurance  of  the  houses  built  on  sand  and  on  rock  (Matt.  7^4-20^ 
makes  in  itself  a  most  intense  portrayal. 


144  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

In  agricultural  matters  Mt.  15^'  contains  a  vigorous  figure  (Trao-a 
<f)VTti.a  Tjv  ovK  €(f>vTeva€v  6  Trarrjp  /xov  6  ovpavto?  iKpi^M&ijaeTaL).  Some- 
times a  single  word  indicates  an  intensity  in  one  of  Jesus'  figures  that 
is  lacking  to  corresponding  illustrations  elsewhere.  In  i  Kings  19-'^', 
Elisha  left  the  plough  and  "  ran  after "  Elijah,  but  Jesus  will  not 
have  his  man  even  /oo/c  back  from  the  plough  of  the  kingdom  to 
which  he  has  once  put  his  hand  (Lk.  9^"). 

Among  business  metaphors  we  may  perhaps  say  that  the  ratio  of 
a  mina  to  a  city  is  a  strong  figure  for  the  ratio  of  service  to  reward 
(Lk.  19^'^'').  Certainly  the  ratio  of  one  hundred  denarii  to  ten 
thousand  talents  is  by  the  radical  quality  of  the  amounts  indicated 
powerfully  suggestive  of  the  proportions  of  the  guilt  of  sin  as  against 
a  fellow-man  to  its  guilt  as  against  God.  It  may  be  noted,  too,  that 
it  is  a  king  to  whom  the  heavier  sum  is  owed.  In  Mt.  20-*^  the 
conduct  of  the  man  who  pays  men  a  day's  wages  for  working  from 
five  till  six  o'clock  is  by  its  very  nature  strongly  suggestive  of  benevo- 
lence in  the  employer.  Somewhat  radical,  too,  in  its  quality  is  the 
"forgiveness"  accorded  to  the  two  debtors  in  Lk.  "j*^-^.  Intensely 
so  is  the  story  of  the  man  who  sold  all  he  had  to  buy  the  field  con- 
taining the  hidden  treasure  (Mt.  13''"')  and  that  of  the  pearl  fancier 
who  bought  a  single  pearl  at  the  same  exhaustive  price.  We  note, 
too,  in  the  latter  case  that  for  the  ancient  oriental  the  pearl  took  the 
place  the  diamond  has  for  us  ;  and  the  story  is  as  it  were  the  story 
of  the  Kohinoor.  Another  business  transaction  conveys  property 
of  absolute  value  on  both  sides  of  the  exchange.  It  trades  ///e  for 
the  world,  an  exchange  of  the  absolutely  precious  for  the  all-including 
bulk  (Mt.  16-'"'  Mk.  S""  Lk.  9-^).  We  shall  refer  on  a  later  page  to  the 
forceful  story  of  the  shrewd  steward  (Lk.  16^). 

Grouping  political,  judicial,  and  governmental  comparisons  together, 
we  note  the  figure  in  Lk.  12^^^,  as  being  carried  through  to  completion 
in  a  thorough-going  fashion.  The  culprit  is  transferred  from  the 
judge  to  the  officer,  from  the  officer  to  the  prison,  and  from  the 
prison  he  comes  not  out  by  any  means  till  the  last  mite  is  paid. 
A  sentence  may  be  given,  in  passing,  to  the  Hebraistic  construction, 
the  strong  adjective  (Svafida-TaKTa)  and  to  the  small  finger  which 
does  not  touch  the  burden,  in  Lk.  11^".  Whether  it  was  a  Roman 
punishment  or  not  to  tie  a  mill-stone  about  a  criminal's  neck  and 
throw  him  into  the  sea  may  not  be  certain,  but  the  intensity  amount- 
ing almost  to  fierceness  is  evident  in  Jesus'  /ai^Aos  6vlk6?  (Mt.  18® 
Mk.  9^-)  and  his  KaTairovTiadrj  iv  tw  7reAay£i  t^s  OuXdaarj^  (Mt.  18''). 
From  the   most  disgraceful   form  of  legal  execution  Jesus  takes  a 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS'    COiMPARISONS.  1 45 

most  radical  metaphor,  that  of  bearing  or  rather  taking  up  the  cross 
daily  (Lk.  9-';  cf.  Mt.  io««  16-^  Mk.  S^*^  Lk.  14-'^).  The  radical 
quality  and  intense  power  of  this  metaphor  are  not  easily  appreciated 
in  our  day.  Ecclesiastical  tradition,  aesthetic  embellishment,  archi- 
tectural elaboration,  and  devotional  associations  combine  to  be  more 
than  a  match  for  historical  imagination  unless  we  escape  the  senti- 
mental associations  of  the  old  words  by  using  others  of  modern 
equivalency.  We  must  imagine  a  plain  religious  teacher  of  great 
personal  power  but  sprung  from  the  laboring  classes  saying  to  those 
about  him  :  "  If  any  one  of  you  wishes  to  be  of  my  following,  he  must 
with  his  own  hands  adjust  the  hangman's  noose  to  his  neck  and 
start  for  the  jail-yard  gallows,  there  to  put  on  the  black  cap  and  be 
hanged.  And  he  must  do  this  every  day."  How  great  must  have 
been  the  recoil  from  such  a  fearful  image. 

In  his  few  metaphors  of  conflict  and  battle  Jesus  has  the  forcible 
image  of  a  strong  xiviiW,  fully  armed,  guarding  his  07on  court  (Lk.  1 1-'). 
The  figure  is  a  perfect  one  of  its  kind,  and  is  more  fully  dwelt  upon 
under  a  subsequent  heading.''  The  supposition  of  a  king  going  to 
war  with  ten  thousand  men  against  an  enemy  with  twenty  thousand 
(Lk.  14'^^)  is  not  in  itself  of  a  specially  extreme  character  unless  we 
include  the  idea  of  the  certainty  of  defeat.  In  Mt.  11^-  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  as  a  town  taken  by  storm.  From  the  throwing  of  the 
torch  at  the  capture  of  cities  Jesus  takes  a  singularly  condensed 
image  (Lk.  12^^).  His  figure  leaps  over  the  indirect  and  secondary 
process  by  which  the  fire  will  be  kindled,  and  states  the  result  as 
though  it  were  a  primary  purpose.  As  missionaries  going  to  China 
with  the  most  peaceful  messages  do,  nevertheless,  become  indirectly 
but  really  the  cause  of  Boxer  riots  and  wars,  so  the  gospel  indirectly 
but  really  will  produce  a  blaze  of  conflict  and  contention  in  the  world. 

Jesus'  metaphorical  or  comparative  references  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  often  made  to  the  most  extreme  or  radical  scenes  or 
characters.  Nothing  less  than  the  all-destroying  flood  of  the  days 
of  Noah,  or  the  terrific  destruction  of  Sodom  in  the  days  of  Lot 
(Lk.  I  y-"- 2s- 29 .  (^f_  ]y[(._  24"'"'^''^),  will  meet  his  strong  conception  of  the 
sudden  coming  of  the  day  of  the  Son  of  Man.  If  the  word  e^oSov 
(Lk.  9^^')  attributed  to  Moses  and  Elijah  at  the  transfiguration  can 
be  thought  of  as  taken  up  from  words  of  Jesus  to  them,  it  may  mean 
more  than  our  word  '  decease  '  or  '  departure '  and  be  a  powerfully 
suggestive  comparison  to  the  going  forth  of  Israel  from  Egypt. 
Jesus  had  previously  been  speaking  of  his  cross,  and  Moses  was  the 

5  See  page  163. 


146  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

great  character  connected  with  the  exodus,  so  that  the  allusion  has 
to  many  seemed  something  more  than  fanciful.  Of  a  radical  char- 
acter also  seems  to  be  Jesus'  comparison  of  John  to  Elijah,  who  was 
for  the  Jews  of  Jesus'  day  so  prominent  a  figure  in  connection  with 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  (Mk.  9").  Paradise,  in  the 
Septuagint  (Gen.  2^,  etc.),  is  used  for  the  garden  of  Eden,  and 
subsequently  became  in  Jewish  theology  the  name  for  the  blessed 
part  of  Hades  where  the  souls  of  the  righteous  await  the  resurrection. 
But  Jesus  seems  simply  to  refer  to  the  Eden  of  Genesis,  and  there 
could  be  no  richer  and  simpler  figure  of  bliss  taken  from  the  Old 
Testament  (Lk.  23*').  Finally  the  details  of  the  story  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus  are  highly  wrought.  The  sumptuous  fare,  the  outer  garment 
of  purple-dyed  wool,  and  the  inner  one  of  fine  Egyptian  linefi  con- 
trast sharply  with  the  extreme  suffering  of  the  beggar,  unable  to 
walk,  covered  with  ulcers,  and  feeding  on  what  fell  from  the  rich 
man's  table.  Abraham's  bosom,  the  flame,  the  tip  of  the  finger, 
and  the  great  gulf  fixed  complete  the  intensity. 

The  imagery  of  the  last-mentioned  parable  so  strongly  suggests 
the  current  Jewish  conceptions  of  Jesus'  day  as  to  call  for  some 
mention  of  the  radical  conceptions  which  Jesus  drew  from  that 
source.  His  use  of  the  figure  of  Elijah,  of  the  feasting  in  the  king- 
dom, of  the  great  wedding  with  its  bridegroom,  of  the  pains  of 
Hades,  and  of  the  joy  of  Paradise  show  with  what  power  and  facility 
he  could  make  simple  images  full  of  spiritual  and  ethical  suggestion 
emerge  from  the  chaotic  pictorial  mass  of  Rabbinic  fantasies. 

VII.    Second  Element  of  Power  :    Exclusion  of  Non-Contributing 

Details. 

Systematic  study  of  Jesus'  comparisons  scon  discovers,  as  our 
tables  show,  their  very  wide  range.  Detailed  study  of  single  pas- 
sages reveals  the  further  fact  of  his  absolute  familiarity  with  the 
Old  Testament  imagery  and  his  absolute  command  of  all  its  re- 
sources. But  we  have  now  to  note  in  an  especial  way  his  entire 
exclusion  of  every  detail  which  does  not  make  for  his  immediate 
object  in  using  each  comparison.  He  never  allows  free  play  to  his 
fancy,  much  less  does  he  allow  the  poetry  of  a  thing  or  its  artistic 
form  or  its  temptations  to  adornment  to  run  away  with  him.  He  is 
never  in  a  trance,  never  subject  to  a  "  fine  frenzy,"  never  "  feels  the 
god,"  or  lets  his  words  go  careering  onward.  The  spirit  of  the 
prophet  is  always  subject  to  the' prophet.     This  is  a  great  source  of 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISON'S.  147 

power  for  his  comparisons.  He  never  winds  circuitously  in  and  out 
amid  the  thickets  of  fanciful  (.letail.  Power  is  never  sinuous.  It 
moves  in  a  straight  line  and  strikes  its  blow,  without  flourishes, 
directly  at  its  object.  We  are  not  to  think  tiiat  with  all  the  Ohi 
Testament  literature  held  in  perfect  solution  in  his  mind  Jesus  coukl 
not  have  crystallized  it  into  elaborate  figures  ;  and  the  same  natural 
scenery  and  surroundings  were  still  there  to  suggest  them.  J5ut  he 
never  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  let  anything  come  into  his  com- 
parison for  its  own  sake  or  on  its  own  account ;  it  came  only  as  an 
efficient  servant  to  his  end.  This  appears  in  three  ways,  in  his 
exclusion  of  all  mention  of  unnecessary  details,  in  his  compelling 
the  hearer  to  mentally  exclude  such  details  even  though  they  had 
been  verbally  mentioned,  and  in  his  selecting  and  sometimes 
inventing  those  that  were  effective. 

I.  The  vast  and  amplified  imagery  of  the  sun  and  of  light  which 
fills  the  Psalms  and  prophets  was  fully  at  Jesus'  command.  So  also 
was  its  cloud  scenery.  Put  we  have  seen  that  he  would  not  elabo- 
rate it  as  Isaiah  does  (30-'').  And  we  may  add  that  he  clothes  no 
one  with  light  as  with  a  garment  (Ps.  104^).  Nor  does  he  ever  start 
the  sun,  like  a  bridegroom  coming  forth  from  his  chamber,  to  run 
a  race  (Ps.  19^"*').  But  the  righteous  shine  forth  in  their  true 
character  at  last  simply  as  the  sun  comes  out  from  behind  a  cloud 
(eKXafjul/ovaiv,  Mt.  13^'').*  ?3ossuet  thought  the  fourteenth  of  Isaiah 
the  finest  chapter  for  public  reading  in  the  Old  Testament.  Jesus 
has  it  all  in  mind  in  Lk.  10'''',  but  he  gives  the  Satanic  downfall  only 
a  single  flash  (w?  dcrrpaTrryv).  He  knows  the  fourth  chapter  of  Daniel, 
and  F.zekiel  17'""^,  but  he  paints  no  tree  reaching  to  heaven  and 
spreading  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  he  does  not  feed  all  flesh  from 
it,  but  simply  calls  up  the  vastness  of  these  imaginative  growths  by 
the  one  suggestive  image  of  the  birds  which  is  common  to  both, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  does  not  overstep  the  modesty  of  nature 
(Lk.  13^'').  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  using  metaphors  the 
greatest  power  is  gained  by  suggesting  the  largest  amount  of  appro- 
priate detail  in  the  fewest  possible  words.  By  selecting  the  mustard 
seed  for  his  illustration  Jesus  secures  a  symbol  of  the  smallest  begin- 
nings, but  by  using  a  phrase  common  to  the  two  great  tree-pictures 
of  ICzekiel  and  Daniel  and  abandoning  any  specific  reference  to  the 
size  of  the  mustard  tree,  he  gets  the  advantage  of  suggesting  the 
heaven-high  and  world-wide  reach  of  the  vision-tree  of  the  prophets, 
a  vision  be  it  remembered  thoroughly  familiar  to  his  hearers. 

^  Bruce  on  Parables,"^.  63,  and  foi/tnote  (luucaLion  from  Cahin;  see  also  p.  140  f. 


148  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

We  have  already  noted  the  imagery  from  vulture  life  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Jesus  abstains  from  all  these  details  because  they  do 
not  make  directly  for  his  point  (Lk.  17^').  Jesus'  "hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness  "  (Mt.  5")  has  a  remarkable  Septuagint 
parallel  in  Ps.  17^'  (cf.  x^pracrOrjo-ovTaL  and  x^P^'^'^^W^P-'^'^)-  Doubt- 
less he  also  had  in  mind  Isaiah  55^--  and  the  whole  range  of  illus- 
trations from  hunger  and  thirst,  but  he  simply  mentions  without 
adornment  the  two  bodily  needs  and  their  satisfaction.  There  is 
no  exhortation  not  to  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,'  or 
to  buy  without  price.  In  Lk.  10^'',  he  gives  power  to  tread  upon 
serpents  and  scorpions,  but  again  the  poetic  imagery  is  not  amplified 
but  condensed  from  its  source  in  Ps.  91^^^.  It  is  perhaps  superfluous 
to  mention  here  his  great  restraint  in  dealing  with  the  enticing 
details  of  shepherd  life  (Mt.  10"),  as  that  comparison  must  be  dwelt 
upon  a  little  later. 

The  beautiful  family  picture  of  the  prodigal  son,  because  it  is  com- 
paratively long,  is  sometimes  thought  of  as  an  elaborated  story. 
The  real  fact  is  the  reverse.  All  the  abundant  details  of  Old  Tes- 
tament imagery  which  a  fanciful  imagination  would  certainly  have 
used  are  carefully  excluded.  The  story  moves  straight  to  its  goal 
without  going  aside  to  gather  a  single  flower.  Isa.  55-  44"  Prov.  29'^ 
Isa.  di'^'Zech.  3''"'^  are  some  of  the  passages  before  the  mind  of  Jesus. 
But  the  chapter  which  by  contrast  best  exhibits  Jesus'  exclusion  of 
irrelevant  material  however  interesting  is  the  fourteenth  of  Hosea, 
which  is  the  Old  Testament  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  Israel  has 
"fallen"  in  far-off  "iniquity,"  is  invited  to  "return,"  "to  take 
words,"  and  "  say  unto "  Jehovah.  There  is  mention  of  him  in 
whom  the  "  fatherless "  "  find  mercy."  There  is  the  same  free, 
loving  welcome  and  joyous  reviving  as  in  the  parable  of  Jesus.  But, 
again,  Jesus  moves  in  a  straight  line,  while  Hosea  deviates  into  ex- 
quisite poetry  about  dew,  odors,  lilies,  corn,  vines,  and  the  Lebanon 
mountains. 

The  wide  sweep  of  a  comprehensive  idea  never  tempts  Jesus  to 
a  correspondingly  wide,  sweeping,  and  extended  figure  of  speech. 
He  n\■^Y  have  before  him  the  figure  of  a  man  who  knows  the  Hebrew 
Bible  from  end  to  end  and  from  height  to  depth,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  has  grasped  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  new  order  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  thus  fusing  the  whole  range  of  revelation  into 
one  compacted  whole.  But  he  figures  it  all  as  a  mere  householder 
of  practical  ability,  who  brings  out  old  stores  in  new  shapes  and 
with  new  additions.      There  is  no  poetic  fringe,  but  merely  ypa^/Aa- 


ROBINSON  :     FORCKKULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 49 

revi  ix'i6r)TCv6u<;  .  .  .  o/aoio?  .  .  .  oiKoSecnroTri  o(tti^  iKJSdWet  .  .  .  Kaiva 
Koi  TTuAata,  Mt.  13'-.  If  by  this  ideal  scribe  Jesus  means  liimself,  the 
self-restraint  is  still  more  remarkable.  Another  instance  of  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  merely  poetic  material  is  found  in  what  Jesus  says  at  the 
institution  of  the  supper.  He  likens  the  bread  to  his  body  given  for 
his  disciples  (Mt.  26-"  Mk.  14--  Lk.  22^'''),  and  he  likens  the  out- 
poured wine  in  the  cups  to  his  shed  blood  (Mt.  26'-*'  Mk.  14-'^  J.k. 
22-'^).  If  we  compare  this  likeness  of  death  with  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  Ecclesiastes,  we  feel  at  once  the  solemn  absence  of  poetic  and  sen- 
timental detail,  and  the  direct  force  of  the  naked  apros  and  Trcrr/ptov. 
In  that  tragic  hour  the  strong  Son  of  God  made  no  mention  of  the 
loosing  of  the  silver  cord,  or  the  breaking  of  the  golden  bowl,  or  the 
breaking  of  the  pitcher  at  the  fountain,  or  the  breaking  of  the  wheel 
at  the  cistern  (Eccl.  12*^).  I'he  foam,  and  the  mixture,  and  the 
dregs,  and  the  draining  of  them  (Ps.  75*),  are  absent.  It  is  not  a 
"cup  of  staggering,"  or  the  "bowl  of  the  cup  of  wrath  "  (Isa.  51"). 
It  does  not  make  him  "reel  to  and  fro  and  be  mad"  (Jer.  25^^^'). 
It  is  simply  a  "  a//)."  But  the  one  word  is  stronger  than  the  many. 
Jesus,  however,  looked  upon  his  life,  taken  as  a  whole,  as  a  wedding- 
festival  from  beginning  to  end  (Lk.  ^^*  Mt.  9^^  Mk.  2'^).  This  seems 
to  be  the  only  activity  or  social  usage  to  which  he  compares  his 
career.  The  simple  severity  with  which  he  does  it  is  remarkable  ; 
and  is  the  more  so  when  we  consider  the  frequency  of  the  metaphor 
in  the  apocalyptic  language  of  his  day.  The  Old  Testament  scrip- 
tures, e.g.  Isa.  54^'^°,  afford  abundant  material  for  amplification  ;  but 
Jesus  uses  none  of  it  except  the  one  item  necessary  to  characterize 
the  joyous  freedom  of  his  gospel. 

Jesus'  figure  of  the  unfinished  tower,  as  given  to  us  in  Lk.  14-'^, 
keeps  out  all  distracting  details  to  such  an  extent  as  probably  to 
make  the  interpretation  of  it  often  go  wrong.  Yet  if  he  had  added 
the  explanation  that  one  must  be  willing  to  appear  as  ridiculous  as 
the  builder  in  question,  he  would  probably  have  weakened  its  force. 

The  comparison  of  the  Pharisees  to  a  plant  of  unheavenly  plant- 
ing, and,  therefore,  to  be  rooted  up,  is  all  the  more  forcible  because 
of  the  absence  of  all  detail  (Mt.  15^^).  Isaiah  5^"^-  contains  two 
extended  metaphors  :  one  of  a  vineyard  bringing  forth  wild  grapes 
instead  of  grapes,  and  another  of  the  vineyard  laid  vraste,  and  briers 
and  thorns  coming  up  in  its  place.  But  Jesus  condenses  both  into 
one  short  and  forceful  figure.  "  Of  a  bramble  men  do  not  gather 
grapes''  (Lk.  6*^).  The  extended  story  of  Elijah's  taking  Elisha 
from  the  plough  does  not  lead  Jesus  into  parallel  details  (Lk.  9"-). 


150  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE, 

A  single,  strong  sentence  completes  his  reference.  "  No  man 
putting  his  hand  to  the  plough  and  looking  back  is  fit  for  the 
kingdom  of  God." . 

Jesus'  effective  refusal  to  amplify  his  comparisons  appears  with 
great  clearness  in  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep.  Ezekiel  (34"'"') 
employs  almost  the  whole  range  of  shepherd  life.  In  this  single 
passage  he  includes  mountains,  water-courses,  inhabited  places,  pas- 
tures, forests,  broken-limbed  sheep,  the  fat,  the  lean,  those  that  butt, 
and  those  that  foul  the  water.  There  is  material  enough  for  a  long 
allegory.  Yet  no  one  remembers  the  passage,  or  holds  the  moral 
truths  it  conveys  except  to  a  small  extent.  The  reason  the  whole 
Christian  world  can  repeat  Jesus'  parable  is  because  it  moves  in  a 
straight  line.  Out  of  all  the  imagery  of  Ezekiel  Jesus  selects  the 
rescue  of  one  single  sheep.  His  story  goes  straight  after  that  sheep, 
gets  it,  and  brings  it  right  back  to  the  rejoicing  fellowship  of  neigh- 
bors. It  is  a  case  of  pure  power  arising  from  the  exclusion  of  every 
uncontributing  detail.  The  parable  of  the  talents  (Mt.  25'*''') 
teaches  the  lesson  that  equal  faithfulness  in  the  use  of  unequal 
opportunities  will  be  equally  rewarded,  and  teaches  it  with  power  for 
this  same  reason.  The  story  is  businesslike.  It  has  no  oriental 
fringes  or  frills,  nothing  but  the  severest  simplicity.  One  sometimes 
wishes  that  Jesus  had  added  some  detail  of  imagery  or  explanation. 
Knowing  that  liars  cannot  trust  each  other,  that  thieves  steal  from 
each  other,  that  murderers  kill  members  of  their  own  band,  —  know- 
ing, in  a  word,  that  evil  is  at  war  with  itself,  and  does  tend  to  disin- 
tegration, one  wishes  that  Jesus  had  said  something  more  than  that  a 
house  or  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  And  yet  to 
have  figuratively  illustrated  evil's  divisions  against  itself  would  ])rob- 
ably  have  lessened  the  force  of  the  teaching  that  evil  is  always  one  in 
being  against  God  and  goodness  (Mt.  i2--'  Mk.  3-^  Lk.  11''). 

One  reference  which  Jesus  makes  to  the  O.  T.  is  singularly  abrupt 
and  unqualified,  but,  perhaps,  all  the  more  forcible  :  "  Elijah  has 
come"  (Mk.  9'^  Mt.  11"  if-).  John  did  no  miracle,  while  Elijah 
did  many ;  his  ministry  was  brief,  while  Elijah's  covered  many  years ; 
and  John  himself  said  that  he  was  not  Elijah.  But  Jesus  said  in  the 
most  naked  fashion  that  John  was  Elijah.  We  feel  a  desire  for 
amplifications,  yet  the  absence  of  them  was  perhaps  the  most  pow- 
erful way  of  saying  that  character  and  service  are  the  true  bases  for 
estimating  personal  worth  ;  and  that  while  men  were  looking  for  a 
noisy  and  sensational  forerunner,  the  true  forerunner  had  come  in  the 
person  of  the  faithful  and  self-eifacing  John. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFUI.NKSS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  151 

2.  There  is  another  method  of  exclusion  than  the  method  of 
verbal  omission.  It  is  by  making  comparisons  in  such  form  that  the 
hearer  is  compelled  mentally  to  eliminate  every  detail  except  the 
one  which  constitutes  the  tertium  comparationis,  and  indicates  the  les- 
son to  be  taught.  The  exclusion  is  none  the  less  real  because 
inward.  To  speak  of  the  Lord  as  coming  like  a  thief  compels  the 
hearer  to  withdraw  his  attention  from  the  idea  of  a  burglar,  because 
the  Lord  cannot  be  that ;  and  this  exclusion  effectively  fastens  atten- 
tion down  to  the  unexpectedness  of  the  coming  (Lk.  12'^"). 

In  a  similar  way  the  comparison  of  God  to  a  mean  man  who  is  in 
bed,  as  are  also  his  children,  compels  us  to  eliminate  the  inappli- 
cable particulars,  and  fasten  our  attention  upon  the  effect  of  bare 
importunity  (Lk.  11'').  The  crowning  instance  of  this  forced  mental 
elimination  is  the  parable  of  the  shrewd  steward.  Those  who  knew 
Jesus'  life,  and  heard  him  tell  the  story  of  a  wasteful  agent,  who 
squandered  his  principal's  money  and  kept  two  sets  of  books,  could 
not  for  a  moment  think  that  these  details  were  intended  to  teach  any 
ethical  lesson.  They  were  obliged  to  eliminate  them,  and  dwell 
upon  the  lesson  of  foresight  and  of  preparation  for  a  change  of 
worlds.  Jesus  had  the  powerful  aiivantage  of  telling  a  story  with 
entire  verisimilitude,  and  at  the  same  time  of  compelling  his  hearers 
by  a  process  of  mental  exclusion  to  limit  their  attention  to  the  single 
point  he  sought  to  teach.  Allegorical  and  dogmatic  interpretations 
of  the  parable  of  the  unprofitable  servant  (Lk.  17'"'")  may  make  it 
teach  the  doctrine  of  the  uselessness  of  works,  or  a  denunciation  of 
the  legal  spirit ;  and  the  school  of  Baur  may  make  it  a  late  invention 
of  the  Pauline  "  tendency  "  ;  but  it  is  far  simpler  to  say  that  it  is  a 
story  representing  God  as  a  severe  taskmaster,  cruel  and  heartless 
toward  his  servants,  in  order  that  these  very  points  being  eliminated 
attention  may  be  forced  upon  that  voluntary  attitude  of  consecration 
which  makes  men  exact  from  themselves  more  than  could  be 
exacted  by  any  external  master. 

3.  The  obverse  side  of  excluding  all  irrelevant  details  is  the  inven- 
tion and  insertion  of  new  ones  where  existing  illustrations  do  not 
supply  them.  This  seems  to  be  the  case  with  Lk.  6''*^;  but  it  is  only 
seeming ;  for  good  measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and 
running  over,  which  conveys  to  the  western  mind  a  sense  of  poetic 
amplification,  is  simply  a  plain  and  homely  though  effective  illustra- 
tion taken  from  the  ordinary  oriental  method  of  measuring  grain. 
KaBtilu  (Mt.  g^-*  Mk.  5®  Lk.  8''-)  furnishes  a  different  case.  The 
girl  was  dead.      Jesus  said  she  was  not  dead.      For  him  she  was  not 


152  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

dead  in  such  a  sense  that  she  could  not  come  to  life  again.  That  is, 
she  was  not  dead  in  that  hopeless  sense  in  which  his  scorners  meant 
the  word.  For  his  view  of  her  death,  which  included  her  coming 
to  life  again,  sleep  that  implies  waking  was  an  accurate  metaphor. 
Sleep  is  a  common  figure  for  death  everywhere.'  But  Jesus  gives  it 
a  new  and  startling  force  by  changing  the  tertiinn  comparationis 
irom  "  long  disquiet  merged  in  rest  "  to  awaking.  This  new  detail 
gave  the  old  metaphor  a  startling  force,  which  must  have  been  felt 
when  he  took  the  girl  by  the  hand  and  raised  her  up. 

In  some  of  his  agricultural  metaphors  Jesus  gains  great  force  by 
replacing  irrelevant  details  with  new  ones  suited  to  his  purpose. 
The  different  kinds  of  soil  are  enumerated  in  the  parable  of  the 
sower  (Lk.  8^^).  Such  a  classification  of  heart  soil  was  new.  So 
also  seems  to  be  the  introduction  of  the  darnel  or  counterfeit  wheat, 
^t^avia,  in  the  parable  of  the  tares  (Mt.  13-^  *'^).  To  teach  the  grad- 
ual growth  of  the  kingdom  according  to  law,  and  how  patiently  men 
must  wait  for  the  good  harvest  which  was  sure  to  come,  Jesus  in  the 
parable  of  the  blade,  ear,  and  full  corn,  employs  effective  details, 
which  are  substantially  new ;  they  all  enforce  the  idea  of  the  seed 
growing  gradually  without  man's  aid.  The  seed  is  cast  upon  (eVt) 
the  earth.  The  man  sleeps  and  rises  day  after  day,  doing  nothing  to 
the  seed.  He  does  not  even  know  how  the  seed  grows  (avTo/xaTr), 
Mk.  4-^),  his  activity  being  thus  excluded  for  the  third  time.  In 
Luke  2o'-"  (of.  Mt.  2i'''  Mk.  12^)  we  have  the  teUing  detail  of  the 
sending  of  the  beloved  son,  by  which  Jesus  brings  home  the  guilt  of 
the  keepers  of  the  vineyard  of  Israel  with  a  forcible  stroke. 

In  concluding  this  point,  which  deals  with  the  excluding  of  all 
irrelevancies,  we  should  perhaps  mention  the  parable  of  the  king's 
marriage  feast  for  his  son,  and  of  the  man  without  a  wedding  gar- 
ment, which  seems  to  be  two  parables,  and  so  to  violate  the  prin- 
ciple of  singleness  and  unity  which  we  have  been  claiming  for  Jesus' 
comparisons.  The  exception  is  only  seeming,  however,  for  this  par- 
able has  for  its  centre  of  gravity  making  light  of  God's  offer  of  grace 
whether  by  despising  or  by  abusing  it ;  and  this  is  equally  shown,  as 
has  been  intimated  on  a  previous  page,  either  by  not  coming  to  the 
feast  at  all  or  by  coming  in  an  insolent  spirit.  The  same  principle 
applies  to  the  parable  of  the  pounds ;  and  both  are,  perhaps,  to  be 
classed  with  such  binary  similitudes  as  those  of  the  mustard  seed  and 
the  leaven,  the  treasure  and  the  pearl,  the  new  wine  and  the  new 
patch,  the  unfinished  tower  and  the  unequal  war.  The  centre  of 
T  See  under  Kotfidu  (not  Ka6eii5w)  in  Liddell  and  Scott. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNKSS    IN    JF.SUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 53 

gravity,  about  which  they  revolve,  is  not  really  in  either  star,  but  in  a 
third  point,  which  controls  them  both. 


VIII.   Third  Element  of  Power  :    Deferred  Applications. 

It  is  a  condition  of  the  strongest  metaphorical  or  figurative  effect 
that  the  physical  or  material  basis  shall  be  so  clearly  and  easily 
grasped  by  the  hearer  that  no  effort  of  attention  need  be  used  for 
that  purpose.  This  causes  Jesus  to  exclude  all  foreign  material,  as  I 
have  just  been  showing.  But  he  secures  the  same  distinctness  by  a 
further  method.  He  puts  an  actual  time-interval  between  the  mate- 
rial basis  and  its  spirilual  application.  He  starts  his  train  of  thought 
in  two  sections,  allowing  the  first  to  be  well  clear  of  the  station 
before  letting  the  second  move  out.  At  first  sight  the  evangelists 
seem  to  teach  that  the  method  was  purposely  used,  and  was  in- 
tended, to  blind  and  darken  the  minds  of  obstinate  hearers.  Such, 
indeed,  was  the  inevitable  result  in  the  case  of  such  niinds  ;  and  the 
inevitable  is  spoken  of  as  the  intended.  But  the  historical  view  sees 
the  case  from  a  different  standpoint.  Jesus  came  offering  his  uni- 
versal, ethical,  and  religious  kingdom  to  all,  but  he  was  practically 
obliged  to  start  somewhere.  He  naturally  began  in  the  temple,  with 
the  accredited  and  actual  religious  leaders  of  his  people.  Finding 
them  unreceptive  and  hostile,  he  turned  to  the  more  northern  ele- 
ment, in  Galilee.  Getting  acceptance  with  them,  he  views  the 
whole  sequence  as  the  carrying  out  of  a  divine  plan,  whose  result  is 
that  the  gospel  not  only  goes  successfully  forward,  but  that  the  fail- 
ure of  ecclesiastical  support  shows  all  the  more  clearly  the  intrinsic 
power  of  the  divine  message,  which  gets  along  so  well  without  it. 
Precisely  so  Jesus  speaks  parables  in  the  most  effective  form  possible, 
and  then  views  tlie  resultant  failure  of  evil  hearers  to  receive  the  real 
meaning  as  a  divine  plan  and  purpose,  or,  at  least,  the  evangelists 
who  record  his  sayings  so  regard  it.  The  lines  of  the  present  inves- 
tigation, however,  lead  us  to  regard  Jesus'  method  as  powerfully 
adapted  to  produce  a  deep  impression.  Hence,  at  this  point  we 
mention,  in  a  class  by  themselves,  what  we  name,  for  distinctness' 
sake,  instances  of  the  method  of  ikfo-red  application. 

Jesus  said  to  his  disciples  (Mt.  i6").  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  When  their  minds  had  dwelt  long  enough 
on  the  image  of  bread,  he  chidingly  tells  them  of  the  transferred  or 
spiritual  sense,  of  hypocrisy,  in  which  he  gave  the  warning.  In  Lk. 
2  2'*fi  Jesus  speaks  of  the  need  of  swords;   and  when  two  have  been 


154  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

hunted  up  and  brought  he  laconically  says,  tvavw  eo-rtv.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  as  here,  the  metaphorical  meaning  is  not  really  staled  at  all. 
This  is  also  the  case  in  Mk.  lO"^  "'',  and  parallels,  where  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  the  hundredfold,  evidently  not  appreciated  by  the  dis- 
ciples at  the  time,  is  left  to  come  to  them  of  itself  subsequently,  and, 
on  that  account,  all  the  more  powerfully.  In  the  case  of  Jairus' 
daughter,  the  meaning  of  "  sleepeth  "  was  deferred  only  long  enough 
to  make  Jesus'  raising  her  from  the  dead  bring  it  out.  Sometimes 
Jesus  interprets  his  figure  so  speedily  that  there  is  not  much  chance 
for  misapprehension,  as  in  his  metaphor  of  spiritual  digestion  (Mt. 
15"),  which  he  explains  in  verses^'**-.  At  other  times  he  seems 
never  to  have  started  the  second  section  of  the  comparison,  leaving 
the  hearer  to  go  back  finally  and  start  it  for  himself.  Instances  of 
this  are  seen  in  the  maxims  of  mote  and  beam  (Mt.  f'  Lk.  6^'),  and 
of  the  blow  on  the  cheek  (Mt.  5'^'-^'  Lk.  6-^"").  It  is  even  probable 
that  this  method  of  deferred  application  contributed  to  Jesus'  con- 
demnation and  death,  for  the  accusation  against  him  (Mt.  26''^  27*- 
Mk.  i5'''j,  that  he  had  said  he  would  destroy  the  temple  and  build  it 
again  in  three  days,  seems  to  point  to  some  such  use  of  an  image 
with  delayed  application,  as  John  2'-'"-^  would  indicate,  whetlier  the 
incident  and  application  there  given  by  the  fourth  evangelist  be 
correct  or  not. 


IX.    Fourth  Element  of  Power  :    Effective  Reversal  of  Previous 
Figurative  Usage. 

A  mind  like  that  of  Jesus,  filled  with  divine  power,  and,  there- 
fore, acting  in  the  highest  human  fashion,  uses  its  mental  imagery 
with  the  greatest  freedom.  One  instance  of  this  is  his  effective 
reversal  of  the  general  previous  use  of  certain  comparisons.  His 
mention  of  salt  is  a  case,  perhaps  somewhat  doubtful,  of  tliis  kind. 
On  the  whole,  an  agricultural  people,  hke  the  Jews,  seem  to  have 
used  the  figure  of  salt  in  a  bad  sense.  To  sow  the  site  of  a  deserted 
citv  with  salt  was  to  condemn  it  to  barrenness  (Judges  g**^ ;  cf  Ezek. 
47"  Ps.  I07"''*).  We  find  the  same  idea  in  Assyrian  inscriptions 
(Esarhaddon  .\,  III,  26).  The  associations  of  Sodom  and  of  the 
saltness  of  the  Dead  Sea  must  also  be  taken  into  account.  But 
Jesus,  turning  to  the  homely  domestic  use,  says.  Ye  are  the  salt  of 
the  earth  ;  that  is,  Ve  are  all  the  salt  there  is  to  keep  the  earth  from 
moral  putrefaction.  Leaven,  also,  was  generally  used,  as  a  figure,  in 
a  bad  sense,  even  by  Jejus  himself,  when  he  applied  it  to  the  teach- 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 55 

ing  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  (Mt.  i6").  But  he  does  not  hes- 
itate to  use  its  silent  spreading,  and  assimilation  to  its  own  quality 
of  the  dough  in  which  it  is  hid,  as  a  likeness  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  itself  (^Lk.  13-^  Mt.  13'^).  Fishing  was  also  used  in  a  bad 
sense  as  applied  to  the  catching  of  men.  Hostile  armies  are  many 
fishers,  who  shaU  fish  the  people  of  Israel  out  of  their  land  to  die 
(Jer.  16"').  It  will  be  a  retribution  upon  them  to  be  taken  away 
with  hooks,  antl  their  residue  with  fish-hooks  (Amos  4-).  Habakkuk 
(i^^)  asks  why  Jehovah  lets  men  be  taken  with  the  angle,  and  caught 
in  the  net  of  the  wicked.  The  pessimistic  preacher  (Eccl.  9^-)  calls 
men  fishes  that  are  taken  in  an  evil  net.  But  Jesus,  by  a  bold  stroke, 
makes  the  net  good,  and  has  it  catch  men  alive  (^wypiZv,  Lk.  5"^). 
The  figure  in  classical  Greek  is  generally  used  in  a  bad  sense  :  of 
taking  men  in  war,  by  Homer,  //.  6.  46  ;  cf.  10.  378,  11.  131  ;  Her. 
I.  86,  etc.  ;  oiSiv.i  l(i)yp€^.v  is  to  give  no  quarter,  Plato,  Legg.  868  B  ; 
metaphorically,  of  ships,  as  i^diyprjTev  (Charito,  7.  6,  post-classical). 
But  compare  Xenophon,  Mem.  2.  6  (cited  by  Farrar  on  Lk.  5^"), 
"  Try  to  be  good  and  catch  the  good.  I  will  help  you,  for  I  know 
the  art  of  catching  men  "  (Socrates).  Perhaps  the  most  interesting, 
as  well  as  the  most  effective,  instance  of  Jesus'  reversal  of  the  ordi- 
nary sense  of  a  figure  is  connected  with  infants  and  children,  which 
he  uniformly  uses  in  a  good  sense.  The  current  Jewish  leaning  is 
shown  in  Paul's  epistles.  To  him  the  child  represents  not  an  ideal 
to  be  sought,  but  a  low  stage  of  development,  out  of  which  one  must 
grow  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  Jew  versed  in  the  law  considers 
the  untaught  Gentile  a  babe  (Rom.  2-*').  A  babe  symbolizes  the 
unspiritual  Corinthian  convert  (i  Cor.  3^).  He  has  been  begotten 
by  his  spiritual  father,  Paul,  whom  he  should  therefore  imitate,  at 
least  in  a  child's  weak  way  (i  Cor.  4'^).  The  child  stands  for  our 
present  feeble  povv^er  of  knowing.  It  takes  a  man  to  represent  "  the 
full-grown  energies  of  heaven"  (i  Cor.  13").  He  would  have  the 
Corinthians  avoid  a  childish  desire  for  the  showy  gift  of  tongues  ; 
and  only  in  parenthesis  does  he  ask  them  to  be  children  in  malice  ; 
seeming  even  by  that  to  mean  that  they  should  keep  their  malice  as 
undeveloped  as  possible  (i  Cor.  14-").  He  feels  the  parental  touch 
of  dearness  for  his  own  spiritual  children;  but,  in  the  same  breath, 
says  their  true  childship  is  so  small  that  he  ought  to  give  birth  over 
again  to  an  infant  Christ  within  them  ((ial.  4'").  In  striking  reversal 
of  all  this  Jesus  is  wilHng  to  call  his  own  disciples  "babes"  in  one  of 
their  most  favored  hours  (Lk.  10''  ;  cf.  Mt.  ii-"').  In  fact,  he  ex- 
plicitly takes  the  child  as  something  like  an  ideal  symbol  of  the  per- 


156  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

feet  spirit  and  temper  men  should  have  toward  the  kingdom  of  God. 
We  can  scarcely  imagine  Paul  curving  his  arm  about  a  little  child  ; 
but  Jesus  does  so  (eVay  caAicra/Aevos,  Mk.  lo^''),  in  order  to  make  the 
symbolism  as  emphatic  as  possible.  Paul's  view  of  the  child  as  illus- 
trative is  much  like  Plato's.  There  is  a  child  in  us  to  whom  death  is 
a  sort  of  hobgoblin  i^Phacdo,  ad  finem).  But  for  Jesus  the  child's 
disposition  is  that  to  which  the  adult  must  bring  himself,  and  the 
child's  attitude  that  to  which  the  adult  must  surrender  himself  in 
order  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  at  all  (Mk.  10^^;  cf  Mt.  19^* 
Mt.  18^).  In  fact,  the  next  verse  (Mt.  18^)  goes  on  to  assign  the 
highest  rank  in  the  kingdom,  even  after  one  has  entered  it,  to  the 
man  of  childlike  spirit. 

If  we  were  right  in  regarding  Deut.  13'''  and  21^'^'-^  as  furnishing  in 
the  picture  of  parents  stoning  their  children  a  kind  of  physical  basis 
for  the  metaphor  of  hating  one's  father  and  mother  in  Lk.  14-'^,  we 
may  here  add  that  Jesus  does  not  think  of  parents  stoning  children, 
but  rather  of  children  stoning  parents.  He  starts  in  by  saying,  not 
If  a  man  hate  not  his  son  and  daughter,  but  If  he  hate  not  his  father 
and  mother,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple.  The  force  of  this  reversal 
lies  in  the  fact  that  to  the  mind  of  the  ancients,  as  Mozley*  has 
shown,  children  were  regarded  as  the  property  of  their  parents,  while 
parents  were  to  be  most  strictly  honored  by  their  children.  The 
fact  that  the  passage  in  Luke  mentions  children  also  as  being  hated 
does  not  seriously  affect  our  position,  for  they  seem  to  be  mentioned 
as  a  kind  of  afterthought  for  the  sake  of  completeness.  In  a  pecul- 
iarly effective  way,  also,  Jesus  changes  the  starting-point  of  the  con- 
ception of  the  word  neighbor,  in  Lk.  lo'''',  from  its  position  in  the 
man  living  near  the  lawyer,  and  thus  being  the  lawyer's  neighbor,  to 
an  ethical  position  in  the  lawyer's  heart  itself,  thus  making  him  play 
the  neighbor  toward  the  other  man.  The  point  is  subde  but  real, 
and  consists  in  reversing  the  direction  of  the  mental  arrow  which 
points  out  the  "  neighbor."  Very  vigorous,  also,  is  Jesus'  turning 
upside  down  of  the  Pharisees'  building  of  the  tombs  of  the  prophets 
(Lk.  11^').  Their  boast  was  that  they  brought  the  prophets  out  into 
public  honor  by  the  costly  tombs  ;  but  Jesus  made  the  building  of 
tlie  tombs  mean  burying  the  prophets  out  of  sight.  There  seems  to 
be  almost  a  touch  of  humor,  too,  in  the  way  he  reverses  the  common 
figure  of  wolves  going  out  to  devour  lambs  into  the  picture  of  his 
disciples  as  lambs  going  out  among  hostile  wolves.  Finally,  the  ordi- 
nary conception  that  a  man  will  sacrifice  all  things  to  save  his  phys- 
*  Ruling  Ideas  in  Early  Ages. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS     COMPARISONS.  157 

ical  life  is  reversed  into  the  metaphor  of  his  losing  his  life  in  order 
to  gain  all  that  is  highest  and  best. 

X.    Fifth  Element  of  Power  :    Antitheses. 

Akin  to  Jesus'  strong  hand  in  using  symbols  in  a  sense  opposite 
to  their  usual  significance  are  his  antitheses.  In  this  respect  his 
figurative  language  simply  shares  in  one  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  his  sayings  as  a  whole.  His  figurative  antitheses,  however,  are 
stronger  and  more  effective  than  those  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

T.  One  group  of  Jesus'  antitheses  contrasts  the  minute  with  the 
vast.  It  is  a  matter  of  size.  In  Mt.  5^^,  cf.  Lk.  16^',  there  is  an  ex- 
treme case.  The  sweep  of  heaven  and  earth  is  thought  of  as  it  might 
be  by  the  deulero-Isaiah  ;  and  over  against  its  possible  passing  away 
is  set  the  minute  yodh  and  "  tittle  "  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  The 
gnat  is  set  opposite  the  camel  (Mt.  23-^),  the  mote  opposite  the  beam 
(Lk.  6^^  Mt.  7').  The  diminutive  group  of  laborers  is  seen  on  the 
edge  of  the  far-reaching  acres  covered  to  the  horizon  line  with  a 
heavy  crop  of  ripe  grain  (Lk.  10-  Mt.  (f').  The  burdens  which  the 
Pharisees  load  upon  men  are  heavy,  but  not  even  one  finger  do  they 
themselves  apply  to  the  load  (Lk.  ii'"';  cf.  Mt.  23^).  The  disciples 
are  as  a  little  flock  of  kids  (cf  i  Kings  20-').  But  the  kingdom  in 
its  immensity  is  their  father's  gift  to  them  (Lk.  12''-). 

2.  Another  group  contrasts  the  unique  and  the  common.  The 
solitary  magnificence  of  Solomon's  courtly  array  is  coarser  and 
poorer  than  the  beauty  with  which  God  clothes  one  of  the  lilies  of 
the  fielil,  though  there  are  thousands  of  them  in  sight,  and  the  dis- 
ciples perchance  are  treading  a  dozen  of  them  under  foot  (Lk.  12-'-** 
Mt.  6-*^).  The  ox  tied  to  the  manger  by  some  nameless  peasant  is 
an  antithesis  of  the  woman  tied  by  Satan  himself  into  a  bent  and 
painful  posture.  The  animal  is  so  common  on  every  farm  ;  Satan  is 
the  sole  prince  of  this  world  (Lk.  13^*'). 

3.  Antithetical  qualities  form  a  third  group.  The  light  within  the 
man  must  not  be  darkness  (Mt.  (r'  Lk.  ii'").  Men  do  not  gather  figs 
of  thorns  or  grapes  from  brambles  (Lk.  6''^).  The  single  elements 
of  these  antitheses  —  the  material  for  them  —  is  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament (Isaiah  5''*).  The  grapes,  and  briers,  and  thorns,  are  there; 
but  Isaiah's  antithesis  is  between  grapes  and  wild  grapes,  while  Jesus 
gives  the  much  sharper  one  between  the  brambles  and  the  grapes. 
Anotlier  instance  is  in  Lk.  6'*",  No  good  tree  brings  forth  corrupt 
fruit  nor  a  corrupt  tree  good  fruit.      Jer.  ii"'  speaks  of  the  men  of 


158  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

Judah  as  a  "  green  olive  tree  fair  with  goodly  fruit."  In  verse  *^  his 
enemies  plot  to  kill  him  and  "destroy  the  tree  with  the  fruit  thereof." 
Here  is  the  good  man  in  contrast  with  the  bad  ;  and  each  is  figured 
as  a  tree,  yet  there  is  no  antithetical  juxtaposition,  or  even  the  con- 
ception of  a  corruptly  productive  tree.  But  Jesus  has  the  double 
antithesis  first  of  adjectives  and  then  of  clauses.  In  Mt.  10^^  (cf.  Lk. 
lo'')  wolves  are  set  against  lambs  and  doves  against  serpents.  Simi- 
larly, the  ravening  wolf  has  clothing  of  opposite  significance  (Mt.  7'''^). 
Often  in  the  O.  T.  God's  people  are  called  his  sheep  and  their  ene- 
mies ravenous  wolves,  but  Jesus'  compact  antithesis  is  not  found 
there.  The  same  antithesis  of  quality  is  shown  in  the  maxim  of  not 
giving  holy  things  to  dogs  or  pearls  to  swine  (Mt.  7").  Perhaps 
none  of  the  instances  so  far  cited,  strong  as  they  are,  equal  in 
mellow  strength  the  invitation  which  speaks  of  a  "  yoke  "  as  "  easy  '" 
or  a  "  burden  "  as  "  light  "  (Mt.  1 1*). 

4.  Jesus'  figurative  language  also  uses  the  antithesis  of  opposing  con- 
ditions. The  "  wise  and  prudent  "  are  set  opposite  the  "  babes  "  ( Lk. 
10-^  Mt.  II-').  The  poverty-stricken  are  to  have  the  kingdom  with 
its  wealth  (Mt.  5'^).  In  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  (Lk.  15)  are 
numerous  antitheses  :  the  son  and  the  servant,  the  kid  and  the  fatted 
calf,  perishing  with  hunger  and  enough  and  to  spare  ;  dead  and  alive. 
Poignantly  sharp,  finally,  is  the  contrast  between  the  suffering  Laz- 
arus and  the  sumptuous  life  of  Dives  in  this  world,  and  between 
Abraham's  bosom  and  the  tormenting  flame  in  the  next  world,  and 
the  antithesis  of  the  opposing  relations  between  the  two  men  as 
experienced  in  this  world  and  in  Hades. 

5.  Opposite  ways  of  acting  furnish  a  fifth  group  of  antitheses. 
Some  children  dance  and  some  lament  (Lk.  7'-).  Putting  a  lamp 
under  the  bed  is  absurd  ;  putting  it  on  the  lamp-stand  is  rational 
(Mt.  S''"  Mk.  4-^  Lk.  8"^).  Cleansing  the  outside  of  dishes  is  a  sym- 
bolic contrast  to  making  the  heart  clean  (Lk.  ii'^").  The  Pharisees' 
bragging  is  a  fine  foil  for  the  publican's  self-accusation  (Lk.  i8^°). 
The  doctrinal  derivatives  of  Xvrpov,  Mk.  lo'*''',  fall  outside  the  prov- 
ince of  this  paper,  which  is  concerned  only  with  the  noble  antithesis 
between  the  figure  of  a  great  slaveholder,  who  lords  it  over  his 
bondsmen,  and  the  wholesale  emancipator,  who  gives  his  life  as  a 
vast  ransom  to  purchase  the  liberty  of  the  slaves  of  doubt,  and  fear, 
and  sin.  The  dignity  of  the  Son  of  Man  might  claim  for  him  a  mul- 
titude of  attendants  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  gives  his  very  life  to 
buy  the  freedom  of  the  vast  slave  retinue  of  the  Evil  One. 

6.  The  last  form  of  antithetical  power  in  Jesus'  comparisons  is 


ROBINSON:     KORCF.FUI.NKSS    IN   JF.SUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 59 

that  shown  by  his  contrnsting  of  Scripture  quotations.  He  is  the 
stone  on  which  men  f;iil  and  are  broken  ;  and,  in  the  same  breath, 
the  stone  which  falls  on  them  and  scatters  them  as  dust  (Isaiah  8'^ 
Dan.  2"'^  ■■"').  Mis  Father's  house  was  a  house  of  prayer  (Isa.  56'^), 
but  the  sordid  occupants  had  made  it  a  den  of  robbers  (Jer.  7"). 

XI.    SixiH  Elemp:nt  of  Powfr  :    Changing  a  Negative  to  a 
Positive. 

To  certain  of  his  comparisons  Jesus  yives  the  force  which  comes 
from  changing  a  negative  to  a  positive  or  affirmative.  There  seems 
to  be  some  such  advance  made  by  him  in  calling  his  disciples  the 
salt  of  the  earth  (Mt.  5''^  Mk.  9'"  Lk.  I4'-').  The  previous  figure 
for  God's  one  elect  people  viewed  them  as  sheep  in  their  own 
special  pasture,  from  which  they  were  not  to  wander.  Jesus'  figure 
represents  them  as  tlie  one  antiseptic  —  all  the  salt  there  is  —  to  be 
sprinkled  over  the  whole  world,  to  save  it  from  corruption.  It  is 
another  form  of  the  same  thought  which  makes  Jesus  regard  his 
apostles  as  fishers  to  catch  men  rather  than  as  shepherds  to  keep  the 
animals  already  in  their  flock.  A  clearer  instance  is  found  in  his 
figure  of  the  evil  eye  and  of  the  light  that  is  in  a  man  (Mt.  6-"'^^). 
Jesus  does  not  contrast  the  single  eye  with  no  eye  at  all,  nor  does  he 
make  darkness  the  opposite  of  light.  On  the  contrary,  he  views  the 
darkness  as  a  light,  and  ascribes  to  it  the  positive  radiating  and 
revealing  qualities  of  light.  It  is  a  species  of  black  light,  sending 
out  black  beams,  and  disclosing  evil  objects  otherwise  unbeheld.  In 
a  paragraph  which  is  highly  rhetorical,  but  conceived  in  the  spirit  of 
our  passage,  James  Martineau  has  developed  this  figure  of  Jesus. 

"  How  great  is  that  darkness.!  Great  indeed  !  Because  it  not 
only  hides  realities,  but  produces  all  kinds  of  deceptive  unrealities  ; 
to  the  blinding  character  of  all  darkness,  adding  the  creative  activity 
of  light;  suppressing  the  clear  outline  and  benign  face  of  things,  and 
throwing  up  instead  their  twisted  and  malignant  shadows.  This  is 
the  difference,  so  awfully  indicated  by  the  greatest  of  seers  in  the 
words  just  cited  between  the  ez'i/  eye  and  710  eye  at  all.  The  latter 
only  misses  what  there  is  :  the  former  surrounds  itself  by  what  is  not. 
The  one  is  an  innocent  privation,  that  makes  no  pretence  to  knowl- 
edge of  the  light :  the  other  is  a  guilty  delusion,  proud  of  its  powers 
of  vision,  and  applying  its  blind  organ  to  every  telescope  with  an  air 
of  superior  illumination.  The  one  is  the  eye  simply  closed  in  sleep  : 
the  other,  staring  with  nightmare  and  burning  with  dreams  ;   whose 


l6o  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

Strain  the  gloom  of  midnight  does  not  relieve,  and  whose  trooping 
images  the  dawning  light  does  not  disperse.  He  whose  very  light 
has  become  darkness  treats  the  privative  as  positive,  and  the  positive 
as  privative  ;  he  sees  the  single  double,  and  the  double  single  ;  with 
him  nothing  is  infinite,  and  the  infinite  is  nothing.  The  great  spec- 
trum of  truth  is  painted  backward,  and  the  rainbow  of  promised 
good  is  upside  down  :  and  while  he  cannot  espy  the  angel  standing 
in  the  sun,  he  can  read  the  smallest  print  by  the  pit-lights  of  Toi^het, 
that  threaten  to  blind  the  spirits  and  smoke  out  the  stars.  To  the 
evil  eye  the  universe  is  not  simply  hidden,  but  reversed."^ 

A  similar  positive  quality  belongs  to  Jesus'  figure  of  providing 
purses  which  wax  not  old  (Lk.  12'^).  Jesus  has  in  mind  not  the 
simple  detachment  from  earthly  possessions  of  those  who  possess  as 
though  they  possessed  not  (i  Cor.  y--'-3U)^  i^ijt  the  heavenly  attach- 
ment of  those  who  use  them  for  another  world  (Godet).  In 
Matthew  19^-  Jesus  has  been  approached  by  the  negative  idea  of  not 
marrying,  and  immediately  proceeds  to  use  a  metaphor  based  upon 
a  positive  action,  by  which  the  conjugal  capacity  is  affirmatively 
devoted  to  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  ransom  for  many,  lately  mentioned,  is  a  strongly  affirmative 
figure,  carrying  the  negative  conception  of  not  being  ministered  to, 
up  into  the  idea  of  ministering  to  others.  If  we  rightly  understand 
Jesus'  idea  of  taking  up  the  cross,  it  furnishes  a  remarkable  instance 
of  turning  a  negative  into  a  positive  figure.  It  is  true  that  Luke 
uses  ySao-ra^ei  (H"')-  ^^^  Mt.  lo"'^  has  Xafi^dvet,  and  Mt.  16-''  and 
Mk.  8'^''  both  have  djoarw.  The  follower  of  Jesus  is  not  to  bear  his 
cross,  he  is  to  take  it  up.  The  cross  was  ordinarily  laid  upon  the 
condemned  ;  this  seems  to  be  assumed  both  by  archaeological  stu- 
dents and  popular  writers.^"  But  Jesus  turns  the  physical  basis  of  his 
figure  into  the  voluntary  and  positive  act  of  lifting  up  the  cross.  In 
other  words,  he  turns  the  negative  metaphor,  which  stands  for 
acceptance  of  providentially  imposed  suffering,  into  the  positive 
figure,  which  stands  for  the  decisive  plunge  into  whatever  suffering  is 
necessary  for  tlie  advancement  of  tlie  kingdom. 

^Endeavors  after  the  Christian  Life,  p.  409. 

^^  E.g.  Friedlieb,  Archaologie  der  Leidensgeschichte,  p.  128.  Farrar,  Life  of 
Christ,  p.  435. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFUI-NESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  l6l 


XII.    Seventh  Element  of  Power  :    Combination. 

I.  A  further  way  in  which  Jesus  secures  power  for  his  comparisons 
is  by  a  combination  of  figurative  details.  The  combination  is 
not  a  mere  aggregation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  most  remarkable 
unification,  in  nearly  every  instance.  Some  of  them  have  already 
been  mentioned  in  speaking  of  the  antitheses,  and  need  only  be 
named  at  this  point.  The  antithesis  in  Lk.  6''^  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a 
forceful  combination  of  passages  from  Jeremiah.  The  unifying  rela- 
tion is  the  conception  of  a  tree  producing  the  opposite  of  its  natural 
fruitage.  The  antithesis  of  the  wolfish  prophet  with  the  innocent 
sheep  is  a  combination  which  secures  unity  by  the  vivid  figure  of 
putting  the  wolf  inside  the  sheep's  clothing  (Mt.  7^^).  The  lambs 
and  wolves  are  combined  into  one  figure  in  Mt.  10^"  by  the  unifying 
cv  ju,e'cra>.  The  two  connected  facts  that  the  Pharisees  did  not  inter- 
pret the  Scriptures  rightly  and  yet  claimed  the  sole  right  of  interpret- 
ing are  set  forth  in  one  combined  yet  single  image  of  a  man  who 
locks  the  door  to  a  temple  and  stands  on  the  outside  with  the  key  in 
his  hand  so  that  the  approaching  people  cannot  enter  (Lk.  11^-;  cf. 
Mt.  23^^).  Another  example  of  skilful  unifying  and  combining  is 
seen  in  the  Pharisee's  prayer  (Lk.  18^^),  where  he  speaks  of  "this 
publican."  That  little  phrase  binds  the  images  of  the  two  char- 
acters together  so  that  they  are  seen  not  as  two  pictures  but  one. 
The  rabbis  seem  to  have  had  the  image  of  the  mote  and  the  beam  ; 
but  with  them  the  antithesis  was  simply  for  retaliation:  "Take  the 
straw  out  of  your  eye,"  "Take  the  beam  out  of  yours." ^^  But  Jesus 
combines  the  two  images  into  one.  There  the  man  stands  with  the 
beam  in  his  eye  straining  to  see  the  mote  in  his  brother's  eye.  After 
speaking  of  the  children  in  the  market-place  of  whom  the  other 
children  complained,  Jesus  uses  his  combining  power  to  seize  upon 
the  Old  Testament  figure  of  Wisdom  in  Prov.  i-",  and  in  chaps.  8 
and  9,  and  to  unite  himself  and  John,  notwithstanding  their  anti- 
thetical modes  of  life,  as  children  of  the  same  heavenly  mother  (Lk. 
•j^).  One  very  beautiful  combination  of  figures  is  found  in  Mt.  ii'"', 
where  Jesus  says  his  yoke  is  easy  and  his  burden  is  light.  The  yoke 
is  often  used  in  the  O.T.  to  represent  taxation,  bondage,  and  sin 
(i  Kings  12''  Jer.  2^  Lam.  i").  The  figure  of  a  burden  for  iniquity 
or  trouble  is  of  course  frequent  (Ps.  38*  55^-).  But  the  yoke  and 
the  burden  are  never  bound  together  into  one  figure.     Isaiah  9^ : 

"See  Lightfo(it,  cited  by  Alforcl  on  Mt.  78. 


1 62  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

"Yoke  of  burden"  merely  indicates  the  yoke  as  something  by  which 
a  burden  is  carrieii.  The  connection  is  simply  verbal,  and  the  yoke 
only  is  affected  by  the  deliverer.  But  Jesus'  picture  shows  a  man 
with  a  galling  yoke,  to  which  a  particularly  heavy  burden  is  attached, 
while  he  offers  an  easy-fitting,  pleasant  yoke ;  and,  even  so,  the 
burden  hung  from  it  is  light.  Another  peculiar  instance  is  in  Lk. 
Ti^',  where  Jesus  turns  an  antithetical  separation  into  a  harmonious 
unity.  The  Pharisees  set  the  generation  that  killed  the  prophets 
into  strong  contrast  with  their  own  generation,  which  built  tombs  in 
their  honor.  But  Jesus  harmonizes  the  two  generations  into  the 
picture  of  one  set  of  men  silencing  the  prophets  by  killing  them,  and 
another  which  puts  them  still  further  out  of  sight  and  hearing  by 
covering  them  with  handsome  tombs.  Killing  and  burying  are  two 
parts  of  the  same  act.  The  king  of  Syria  complained  —  or,  rather, 
his  servant  did  —  that  the  words  he  spoke  in  his  bed-chamber  were 
told  to  the  king  of  Israel  by  Elisha  (2  Kings  6'-).  With  some  such 
image  in  mind  Jesus  represents  his  private  teachings  as  being  publicly 
repeated.  But  he  combines  the  private  speaking  and  public  hearing 
into  one  forcible  image  of  a  private  whisper,  in  some  shailowy  place, 
vibrating  outward  into  the  surrounding  and  illumined  landscape,  mak- 
ing the  world  into  a  kind  of  whispering  gallery.  "What  ye  have  said 
in  the  darkness  shall  be  heard  in  the  light"  (Lk.  12'''). 

2,  Another  form  of  combination  of  metaphors  or  comparisons, 
which  Jesus  uses  with  great  force,  is  that  of  joining  two  Scripture 
quotations  together.  The  sordid,  ecclesiastical  merchants  made  the 
house  of  prayer  (Isa.  56")  a  den  of  robbers  (Jer.  7").  Here  it  is 
not  simply  the  antithesis  which  gives  force,  but  the  fact  that  the 
antithesis  is  a  combination  of  two  well-known  prophetic  utterances. 
Very  widely  separated  in  the  Old  Testament  are  the  image  of  the 
stone  of  stumbling  (Isa.  S^"*)  and  the  image  of  the  stone  which  smote 
the  composite  image  (Dan.  2^'^^),  and,  we  may  add,  the  image  of 
the  rejected  stone  (Ps.  118")  ;  but  Jesus  combines  the  rejection,  the 
stumbling,  and  the  crushing  of  the  three  figures  into  the  single 
image  of  a  great  stone  standing  upon  a  mountain  slope,  upon  which 
men  fall  and  are  hurt  while  it  is  stationary ;  but  afterward,  when  it 
gets  loosened  and  comes  crashing  down,  it  scatters  as  dust  whatever 
sets  itself  up  in  its  pathway.  And  here,  as  always,  Jesus  does  not 
say  too  much,  but  leaves  all  the  great  suggestiveness  of  the  stone  of 
stumbling,  and  the  still  greater  figurative  suggestiveness  of  the  stone 
cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  of  the  composite  image, 
which  represented   great   kingdoms,  to  combine   themselves  in   the 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 63 

imagination  of  his  hearers  into  one  tremendous  effect.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  he  spoke  to  men  to  whom  all  this  imagery  was 
exceedingly  familiar ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  more  compre- 
hensive and  far-reaching  claims  being  made  with  the  use  of  so  small  a 
number  of  words.  Again  :  we  have  in  Job  i*^'"  and  2'"^  Satan's  desire  to 
test  Job  granted,  and  in  Amos  9'  we  have  the  house  of  Israel  sifted 
among  all  the  nations  like  as  grain  is  sifted  in  a  sieve,  without  the  least 
kernel  falling  upon  the  earth.  But  in  Lk.  22^^  Jesus  combines  the  indi- 
vidualism of  the  story  of  Job  with  the  national  metaphor  of  Amos  into 
a  single  picture  of  Satanic  sifting  of  one  who  nevertheless  is  preserved. 

3.  In  some  cases  Jesus  not  only  combines  existing  Scripture  fig- 
ures, but  adds  some  telling  detail,  which  gives  a  new  and  powerful 
definiteness  and  precision  to  the  whole.  The  deutero-Isaiah  speaks 
of  the  watchmen  (the  supposed  leaders)  of  Israel  as  bUnd  (56'")  ; 
he  speaks  of  Israel  his  servant  as  blind  (42'^) ;  he  speaks  of  leading 
the  blind  by  a  way  they  know  not  (42"^).  Isa.  6^**  speaks  of  a  shut- 
ting of  the  eyes  of  God's  people.  There  are  blind  people  leading 
and  there  are  blind  people  led,  and  both  in  abundance.  But  the 
intense  brevity  gained  by  joining  the  two  in  an  image  of  the  blind 
leading  the  blind,  and  by  putting  a  ditch  or  pit  in  front  of  them,  fur- 
nishes an  instance  of  Jesus'  peculiar  power  of  combining  old  and 
common  Scripture  images,  and  adding,  at  the  same  time,  a  telling 
figurative  detail,  which  still  further  enhances  the  total  effect.  The 
story  of  the  unclean  spirit  expelled  and  wandering  through  the 
desert,  and  returning  with  companions  (Lk.  ii-"*-^;  cf.  Mt.  i2*'-'"), 
is  another  instance  of  the  same  kind.  The  imagery  is  from  Isaiah 
13-^''  and  34".  In  the  latter  passage  "night  monster"  perhaps 
means  a  kind  of  demon.  Here  we  have  the  details  of  the  desert  as 
the  home  of  wild  beasts  and  demons,  and  of  their  making  their 
haunts  in  the  ruined  homes  of  Babylon  and  Edom.  But  Jesus  deals 
with  a  single  dwelling,  and  thus  makes  his  picture  compact  and  pre- 
cise, while  at  the  same  time  adding  the  peculiar  feature  of  making 
the  demon  plan  and  talk  intelligently.  Yet  again,  Jesus'  figure  of 
the  strong  man  armed,  in  Lk.  1 1^'  (cf.  Mt.  12^  Mk.  3-'),  gathers  its 
imagery  from  Isa.  40"^  49'^' '-'^  53^-.  But  the  "  strong  man,"  the  "cap- 
tives," and  the  "  divided  spoil,"  are  combined  by  Jesus  into  a  living 
unity,  not  only  by  the  use  of  the  comparative  iaxvporepo';,  by  which 
he  puts  himself  into  unifying  image  relation  with  the  strong  man,  but 
also  by  the  location  of  the  whole  scene  in  one  definite  place,  the 
court  (at'Ar^)  of  the  strong  man. 

4.  Under  this  head  we  mention,  finally,  two  cases  of  exceptional 


164  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

character.  The  first  seems  to  contradict  our  statement  that  Jesus 
never  uses  a  mere  aggregation  of  images.  The  rock  on  which  he 
will  build  his  church,  the  gates  of  hades,  the  keys  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  binding  and  loosing,  do  seem  to  furnish  a  group  of  unrelated 
images  without  metaphorical  unity.  In  this  respect  it  has  no  par- 
allel among  the  whole  list  of  Jesus'  sayings  in  the  Synoptics.  We 
must  frankly  set  it  down  as  entirely  different  from  Jesus'  dialect  else- 
where, or  else  we  must  say  that  the  conscious  figurative  structure 
does  not  go  beyond  the  building  upon  the  rock  ;  and  that  the  gates, 
and  the  keys,  and  the  binding  and  loosing,  had  lost  their  figurative 
power  in  Jesus'  day,  or,  at  least,  for  him,  and  meant  nothing  more 
than  the  schemes  of  the  underworld,  ability  to  enter  and  authority  to 
prohibit  or  permit.  But  this  is  a  violent  supposition.  The  second 
instance  is  exceptional  for  an  opposite  reason  from  the  first.  The 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son  (Lk.  15"*^)  gathers  imagery  from  more 
sources  than  any  other  of  Jesus'  comparisons,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
there  is  none  which  forms  a  more  compact  and  living  unity.  Isa. 
55^  mentions  spending  money  for  naught  ;  in  44",  and  in  other 
places,  lie  pleads  for  the  return  of  spiritual  wanderers.  Prov.  29^ 
mentions  the  son  that  wastes  his  father's  substance  with  harlots. 
The  fourteenth  chapter  of  Hosea,  as  we  have  already  noted,  tells  of 
being  fallen  by  iniquity  and  being  fatherless,  as,  also,  of  tlie  "  words  " 
of  returning  penitence.  To  touch  swine  was  the  acme  of  unclean- 
ness  (Lev.  11^*').  The  distress  of  the  spendthrift  was  proverbial 
(Prov.  2(f).  Famine,  too,  was  a  frequent  factor  in  Old  Testament 
distress.  Both  Isaiah  (61'°)  and  Zechariah  (3"'^)  speak  of  clothing 
men  with  garments  of  salvation,  and  covering  them  with  the  robe  of 
righteousness,  to  signify  renewal  of  position  in  God's  house,  as  in  the 
case  of  Joshua  the  high  priest.  The  giving  of  the  ring,  as  by  Pha- 
raoh to  Joseph  (Gen.  41^-)  denoted  the  conferring  of  dignity  and 
honor.  The  whole  story  is  composed  of  images  already  in  common 
use.  But  Jesus  combines  them  by  twos  and  threes  in  subordinate 
groups,  as,  for  example,  by  having  the  famine  arise  just  as  the  spend- 
thrift's hour  of  want  has  come,  and  by  making  these  two  distresses 
combine  to  send  him  to  the  swine.  Another  group  of  images  com- 
bines the  ring,  and  robe,  and  feast,  into  one  quick  picture  of  the 
prodigal's  reinstatement.  The  whole  story  has  no  new  details.  It 
is  but  a  combination  of  combinations  of  Old  Testament  figures. 
And  yet  the  living  unity  which  binds  all  together  makes  the  analysis 
into  a  combination  of  images  and  details  seem  absurd,  so  absolutely 
one  in  its  simplicity  is  the  whole  parable. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IX    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 65 


XIII.    EliGHTH  Element  of  Power  :    Naturalness. 

We  now  come  to  the  naturalness  of  Jesus'  metaphors  as  another 
source  of  their  forcefuhiess.  In  making  this  statement  we  do  not 
mean  to  imply  that  all  his  metaphors  are  taken  from  outward 
nature,  or  that  they  never  describe  any  improbable  or  unnatural 
action.  We  rather  mean  that  in  speaking  of  natural  phenomena  he 
does  not  give  distorted  or  imaginative  descriptions  of  things  impos- 
sible to  nature,  and  then  use  them  as  comparisons.  On  the  contrary, 
he  uses  nature  just  as  she  is.  We  mean,  also,  that  he  uses  human 
functions  and  activities  in  his  descriptions  with  verisimilitude.  The 
course  of  action  in  the  metaphor  does  not  depart  from  the  corre- 
sponding action  of  nature  or  human  nature  in  actual  life  ;  or,  if  such 
departure  is  made,  it  is  purposely  and  evidently  made  to  indicate  a 
corresponding  departure  from  wisdom  or  from  rectitude.  Through- 
out his  comparisons  Jesus  makes  us  feel  that  what  he  commends  is 
in  line  with  nature  and  natural  probability,  and  that  what  he  con- 
demns is  analogous  to  the  unnatural  and  improbable.  This  gives 
them  a  peculiar  power  for  enforcing  ethical  and  spiritual  truth.  His 
listeners  did  not  need  to  use  any  mental  force  in  struggling  to  under- 
stand his  illustration,  for  all  men  understand  the  simple,  everyday 
phenomena  of  nature  and  human  life.  They  could  give  their  whole 
attention  to  the  transferred  metaphorical  or  spiritual  sense  of  his 
utterance.  Nature  worship,  moreover,  is  the  first  worship  ;  and  a 
teaching  which  appeals  to  nature  and  to  human  nature  acquires  a 
certain  force  from  that  very  fact. 

I.  In  this  connection  we  mention  first  the  comparisons  Jesus 
drew  from  ordinary,  external  nature.  The  impression  sometimes 
prevails  that  nearly  all  of  them  come  from  this  source.  Our  table 
shows  that  this  is  not  the  f^ict,  but  that  there  was  a  kind  of  universal- 
ism  in  them  which  went  the  rounds  not  only  of  nature  but  of  the 
total  life  of  his  day.  Nevertheless,  he  did  have  many  metaphors  or 
comparisons  from  what  we  call  nature.  He  was  brought  up  in  the 
country,  in  the  midst  of  agricultural  scenes.  Wide-reaching  pros- 
pects were  to  be  had  from  the  summits  of  his  native  hills ;  and,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  brief  epistle  of  James  (usually  considered  to  be 
his  brother),  which,  businesslike  as  it  is,  contains  more  metaphors 
from  nature  than  the  entire  writings  of  Paul,  a  love  of  nature  was 
characteristic  of  the  family.  And  all  his  metaphors  from  nature  are 
natural.      There  is  a  sharp  difference  here  between  Jesus  and  the 


1 66  JOURNAL    or    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  between  him  and  Paul. 
Jesus  never  says  that  men  sow  wheat  and  reap  tares  (cf.  Jer.  12'^). 
His  tares  come  iVom  tare  seed,  sown  by  an  enemy  (Mt.  ^'y').  It 
would  hardly  be  possible  for  him  to  speak  of  grafting,  much  less  of 
grafting  a  wild  olive  into  a  cultivated  tree  (Rom.  11'').  When  he 
speaks  of  the  stones  crying  out  it  is  as  of  something  miraculous  and 
all  but  impossible  (Lk.  19*),  and  not  at  all  as  a  kind  of  natural  and 
gladsome  outburst  of  inanimate  things,  as  when  the  Deutero-Isaiah 
speaks  of  the  leaves  of  the  trees  clapping  their  hands,  and  of  the 
mountains  breaking  forth  into  singing  (Isa.  55^^.  Such  poetical 
amplifications  are  beautiful,  but  the  beauty  is  gained  at  the  expense 
of  force.  A  camel's  going  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  whether 
taken  as  a  mere  repetition  of  an  oriental  proverb  for  impossibility  or 
at  its  face  value,  is  something  which  does  not  happen  (Lk.  18-'). 
The  rising  cloud,  the  south  wind,  the  reddened  sky,  were  ordinary 
natural  phenomena  (Lk.  12^^*'  Mt.  16-").  In  Lk.  20^^  we  have  an 
interesting  instance  of  Jesus'  unwillingness  to  use  an  unnatural  illus- 
tration in  a  good  sense.  He  speaks  of  falling  on  the  stone  and 
being  broken,  and  of  the  stone  falling  on  a  man  and  scattering  him 
as  dust,  omitting  all  the  extraordinary  aud  highly  unnatural  imagery 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream.  In  a  general  way,  it  is  perfectly  nat- 
ural for  a  man  to  be  hurt  by  falling  on  a  stone,  and  by  having  the 
stone  fall  upon  him,  nor  does  the  objection  of  unnaturalness  hold 
against  the  figure  of  the  stone  pulverizing  the  man  \  for  Jesus  is  fol- 
lowing Daniel's  imagery,  and  is  regarding  the  man  as  an  image  such 
as  Daniel's,  so  that  he  becomes  like  chaff  on  the  summer  threshing- 
floor.  It  is  a  metaphor  within  a  metaphor ;  and  the  double  image, 
as  Jesus  and  his  hearers  would  see  it,  would  not  be  felt  as  unnatural. 
We  have  already  contrasted  the  entire  naturalness  of  Jesus'  figure  of 
the  righteous  shining  forth  as  the  sun,  and  of  the  lightning  flashing 
across  the  heaven  (Mt.  13*'  Lk.  17-^),  which  have  their  exact  coun- 
terparts in  nature,  with  the  unnaturalness  of  the  multiplied  light  of 
the  sun  and  the  moon,  in  Isaiah  30-",  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
one  has  ever  seen.  Reeds  shaken  by  the  wind  (Lk.  7-*)  were  to  be 
seen  by  the  edge  of  any  brook  or  stream.  The  tree  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's vision  was  as  imaginary  as  the  tree  Igdrasil  in  Norse  m\'thol- 
ogy.  But  the  trees  in  Jesus'  comparisons  (Lk.  13^'-'  23'^',  ct  al.)  could 
be  seen  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  and  near  at  hand.  Women  did  put 
leaven  into  meal  just  as  Jesus'  parable  described,  and  the  leaven  did 
act  just  as  he  said. 

2.    Passing  from  external  nature  to  human  functions  and  activities. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  167 

we  find  Jesus  observing  a  similar  fidelity  to  facts  in  the  physical 
bases  of  his  comparisons.  He  never  conceives  of  anything  as  sweet 
or  bitter  in  one's  mouth  and  the  reverse  in  one's  stomach  (Ezek.  3'' ; 
cf.  Rev.  10^"),  for  the  stomach  has  no  gustatory  nerves.  Although 
he  makes  a  metaphor  out  of  almost  every  part  of  the  body,  including, 
as  a  glance  at  our  table  shows,  the  hair,  the  eyes,  the  ears,  the 
mouth,  the  digestive  organs,  the  hand,  the  foot,  the  reproducti\e 
capacity,  and  even  the  finger,  he  nevertheless  uses  them  all  with 
faithfulness  to  physical  fact,  as  we  see  by  contrasting  Ezekiel's  figure 
just  mentioned  with  Jesus'  descriptively  accurate  account  of  the 
passage  of  food  through  the  digestive  organs.  He  figures  his  dis- 
ciples as  treading  upon  serpents  and  scorpions  (Lk.  10^^),  but  never 
as  trampling  a  lion  under  foot  (Ps.  91^''),  because  one  may  strike,  or 
shoot,  or  rend  a  lion,  but  cannot  trample  on  him  while  alive,  and 
does  not  think  of  doing  so  when  dead.  The  two  instances  of  an 
unnatural  act,  swallowing  a  camel  (Mt.  2y^)  and  having  a  beam  in 
one's  eye  (Mt.  7'^  Lk.  6^^),  are  undoubtedly  to  be  explained  as  the 
c^uoting  or  citing  of  proverbial  expressions,  shown  by  Lightfoot  to 
have  been  in  common  use.  It  scarcely  need  be  mentioned  that  cer- 
tain actions  apparently  unnatural  are  shown  by  the  study  of  archae- 
ology to  have  been  quite  customary.  An  Eastern  king  or  prince 
would  not  hesitate,  if  sufficiently  provoked,  to  bind  a  man  hand  and 
foot  and  throw  him  out  of  the  house  (Mt.  22^'^).  Eastern  houses  had 
inner  chambers,  and  proclamations  were  made  from  housetops  (Lk. 
12').  Cups  and  platters,  and  other  articles,  were  washed  as  Jesus 
describes  (Lk.  ii'^'';  cf.  Mk.  7^);  as,  also,  hands  and  feet.  There 
were  plenty  of  unwhited  tombs,  whose  flat  slabs  did  not  show  to  the 
casual  eye  of  the  pedestrian  (Lk.  11'*^).  Men  did  untie  oxen  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  lead  them  to  water  (Lk.  13'^"').  A  shortage  of  hands 
at  harvest-time  was  as  common  as  it  is  in  Kansas  (Lk.  10''  Mt.  9''''). 
Enemies  did  sow  tare  seed  in  a  man's  field  (Mt.  13""''),  even  as  sim- 
ilar maliciousness  is  practised  to-day  (Trench  on  Parables  gives 
examples).  Shepherds  did  separate  sheep  from  goats  (Mt.  25'''-). 
Animals  were  helped  out  of  pits  or  holes  on  the  Sabbath  (Lk.  14^), 
The  candle  and  the  broom  were  used  to  find  lost  money  (Lk.  15*). 
Secret  spots  in  the  field  were  used  as  safe-deposits,  and  a  field  with 
such  a  deposit  might  be  bought  if  the  deposit  were  known  only  to 
the  finder  (Mt.  13'").  Pearl  merchants  ])lied  their  trade  (Mt.  i3''-'''-^'''). 
Agents  embezzled,  and  falsified  their  accounts  (Lk.  16'"^).  Men  of 
unusual  philanthropic  spirit  did  help  the  wounded  even  to  their  own 
danger  (Lk.  10''").      Men  did  delay  cutting  down  a  barren  tree,  in 


1 68  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

hope  that  more  care  would  make  it  fruitful  by  another  year  (Lk. 
13"'^).  Doors  were  shut  upon  maddened  outsiders,  who  did  with 
oriental  demonstrativeness  weep  and  gnash  their  teeth  (Lk. 
1 3-^- -•"'■ -^- -"■').  So  evidently  faithful  to  the  life  of  his  day  were  the 
physical  bases  of  Jesus'  comparisons  that  no  other  portion  of 
Scripture  is  as  trustworthy  as  they  for  ascertaining  the  uses  and 
practices  of  antiquity.      If  only  they  were  fuller  of  detail  ! 

3.  But  what  of  the  numerous  cases  where  Jesus'  comparisons  rep- 
resent men  as  doing  or  achieving  unnatural  things?  They  are  in 
part  things  which  he  expressly  says  do  not  happen,  and  have  been 
mentioned  as  in  reality  proof  of  his  faithfulness  to  nature  ;  for  faith- 
fulness is  negative  as  well  as  positive,  and  repudiates  false  attributes 
as  well  as  insists  upon  genuine  ones.  There  remain,  however,  not  a 
few  cases  in  which  Jesus  does  portray  men  as  acting  in  a  highly 
improbable  manner.  This  is  because  man's  ethical  and  religious  per- 
version is  such  that  he  often  acts  in  a  manner  which,  in  analogous 
physical  or  social  circumstances,  would  be  called  unnatural  and 
even  irrational.  In  ethical  matters,  man's  "natural"  conduct  is 
often  highly  unnatural.  Hence  the  need  of  improbable  and  ''  unnat- 
ural "  acts  and  relations  in  the  imagery  which  portrays  it.  Failure 
to  recognize  this  principle  of  Jesus  causes  interpreters  often  to  miss 
his  main  point,  while  the  due  recognition  of  the  principle  reveals  one 
great  source  of  power  in  his  comparisons,  viz.  the  portrayal  of  evil 
conduct  as  a  priori  unnatural  and  unaccountable.  It  must  also  be 
added,  for  the  sake  of  completeness,  that  conduct  which  is  unusually 
or  unnaturally  good  for  the  average  man  may  not  be  such  for  a  man 
of  exceptional  piety  or  love.  But  all  these  representations  of  unnat- 
ural conduct  on  the  part  of  free  agents  are  totally  different  from 
using  representations  which  are  contrary  to  physical  fact,  or  to  the 
regular  processes  of  nature,  to  symbolize  conduct  which  is  morally 
right  and  praiseworthy.  Figures  and  comparisons  of  this  latter  kind 
Jesus  never  has. 

Passing  by  the  rooting  up  of  the  sycamine  tree  and  planting  it  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  with  the  remark  that  the  utterance  is  meant  to 
represent  something  beyond  nature,  and  done  by  divine  power  in 
answer  to  prayer,  we  come  to  the  employer  who  paid  the  same 
wages  for  one  hour's  work  as  for  twelve  (Mt.  20'').  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  while  a  man  would  not  naturally  do  this  on  purely  business  prin- 
ciples, he  might  do  it  if  he  were  of  a  philanthropic  cast,  and  seeking 
to  furnish  employment  to  all  who  were  in  need  of  it.  It  is  not  nat- 
ural to  take  food  from  the  family  table  and  throw  it  to  dogs  ;   and 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS   IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 69 

the  direct  purpose  of  Jesus  in  saying  so  is  to  illustrate  the  impropri- 
ety of  his  helping  the  Syro-Phoenician  woman  (Mk.  7^.  It  is  not 
natural  to  put  a  lighted  lamp  in  the  cellar  or  under  a  measure  (Lk. 
u33  gi6  ^j^  ^21  ^15-^.   jjyj.  jj.  jg  j^Q  more  unnatural  than  it  is  for  men 

who  have  received  the  light  of  great  new  truth  to  fail  to  communi- 
cate it  to  others.  The  blind  leading  the  blind  into  a  ditch  is  no 
more  unnatural  than  Pharasaic  leaders,  with  their  eyes  shut  to  divine 
truth,  leading  those  who  are  blind  enough  morally  to  follow  them 
into  the  ditch  of  spiritual  ruin  (Lk.  6'^  Mt.  15").  That  a  servant 
owe  ten  milhon  dollars  to  his  master  is  indeed  improbable  (Mt. 
iS^*^^);  but  so,  a  priori,  is  the  greatness  of  the  sin  of  man  against 
God.  And  if  it  be  objected  that  the  story  is  too  severe  to  be  a  nat- 
ural illustration  of  so  gentle  a  grace  as  forgiveness,  the  reply  is  that 
it  does  not  illustrate  the  forgiving  spirit  so  much  as  the  inflexible 
necessity  of  having  that  spirit.  Cutting  a  piece  out  of  a  new  gar- 
ment to  patch  an  old  one  (Lk.  5^)  "  seems  too  absurd  for  any 
human  being  in  his  senses  to  think  of"  But  so  also  is  it  to  think  of 
Jesus'  new  and  indivisible  spirit  of  life  as  having  a  patch  cut  out  of  it 
for  mending  Judaism.  It  is  the  very  point  in  the  parable  of  the  ten 
virgins  that  they  acted  so  foolishly  and  unnaturally  as  not  to  carry  oil 
with  them,  and  to  go  off  and  buy  it  instead  of  going  in  just  as  they 
were  with  the  other  virgins,  and  welcoming  the  bridegroom  when  he 
came.  Such  conduct,  however,  is  no  more  unnatural  a  priori  than 
that  men  should  insist  on  forms  and  ceremonies  in  religion  even  at 
the  expense  of  missing  its  essence  (Mt.  25^*).  That  men  should 
refuse  invitations  to  a  great  supper,  especially  if  it  were  the  marriage 
of  the  king's  son,  is  an  incredible  story  (Lk.  i4^'''*-;  cf.  Mt.  22-'^^). 
But  it  is  no  more  incredible  a  priori  than  that  the  one  divine  son  of 
God  and  his  Father  and  the  feast  of  love  should  be  scorned. 

4.  It  will  be  observed  that  we  have  given  but  slight  attention  to 
the  most  important  of  Jesus'  comparisons,  that  of  God  to  a  father. 
In  every  other  instance  Jesus  seems  to  condense  his  mental  images 
out  of  existing  material.  In  this  one,  on  the  contrary,  he  elaborates. 
Other  images  are  seldom  repeated,  if  at  all,  more  than  once  or  twice  ; 
this  one  incessantly.  His  whole  teaching  may  be  grouped  about  his 
various  uses  of  the  figure  of  fatherhood.  Instances  of  its  use  are  by 
no  means  wanting  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  their  representation  of 
God  is  subordinate.  The  Old  Testament  conceives  God  in  the  main 
as  a  king.  Jesus  reverses  this  relation,  purposely  using  the  word 
"father"  so  as  to  make  it  grasp  the  divine  character  as  a  whole,  and 
give  not  a  side  view  but  the  inside  view  of  his  nature.      It  is  not  the 


lyo  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

province  of  this  paper  to  discuss  all  Jesus'  uses  of  this  wholly  excep- 
tional comparison.  It  is,  however,  within  our  province  to  say  that 
the  power  and  persistence  with  which  he  uses  it  furnish  the  key  to 
the  problem  of  the  extent  of  God's  fatherhood.  Mt.  23^"'"^^  is  some- 
times called  conclusive  for  the  universality  of  the  fatherhood  ;  but  it 
is  a  long  way  from  the  first  verse  to  the  ninth,  and  the  connection  is 
not  very  close  between  the  "multitudes"  and  the  "Father."  Jesus 
never  expressly  declares  the  universality  of  God's  fatherhood  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  never  expressly  restricts  its  extent  to  his  dis- 
ciples. We  cannot  settle  the  question  of  extent  directly  from  the 
consideration  of  extent.  But  when  we  note  the  repeated  intensity 
and  power  with  which  he  portrays  the  fatherhood  of  God,  both  in 
connection  with  sinners  like  the  prodigal  and  in  connection  with  his 
own  disciples,  we  see  that  it  is  his  one  great  thought  of  God,  illumi- 
minating  and  controlling  his  view  of  every  man.  It  is  the  power  of 
the  portrayal  of  the  father's  love  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son 
that  makes  us  feel  that  universality  of  fatherhood  is  intended.  It  is 
not  the  mere  fact  that  there  is  one  story  attributed  to  him  which  rep- 
resents God  as  the  Father  of  a  spendthrift  adventurer.  But  every- 
where in  the  most  natural  way,  and  to  illustrate  every  phase  of 
God's  character,  Jesus  uses  this  same  comparison.  If  he  wishes  to 
show  the  goodness  of  God  in  general  as  a  creator,  he  simply  says 
that  as  parents  give  what  is  needed  to  the  children  whom  they  have 
brought  into  the  world,  so  God  will  act  the  parent  toward  his  crea- 
tures, the  race  of  man.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  would  show  the 
necessity  of  men's  forgiveness  of  one  another,  he  tells  the  story  of 
the  punishment  of  an  unforgiving  creditor,  and  then  adds,  not  "  So 
likewise  shall  God,"  but  "So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  if 
ye  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother  his  trespasses"  (Mt.  iS"*^). 

5.  Socrates  brought  philosophy  down  from  heaven  to  earth. 
Jesus'  comparisons  do  the  same  for  religion.  It  is  a  mark  of  power 
in  both  cases.  Men  write  with  great  beauty  and  instructiveness,  and 
even  with  great  intellectual  power,  of  things  they  have  never  seen  or 
of  things  distant  and  remote,  but,  ethics  being  a  matter  of  the  con- 
duct of  everyday  life,  an  ethical  teacher  speaks  with  greatest  power 
when  he  uses  illustrations  taken  direcdy  from  everyday  hfe,  and  the 
everyday  life  of  the  people  he  speaks  to  at  that.  It  does  indeed 
require  a  spirit  of  great  purity  and  power  to  make  common  things 
vehicles  of  ethics  without  appearing  silly  and  goodish  ;  but  if  the 
teacher  have  the  powerful  grasp  that  we  have  already  abundantly 
seen  in  Jesus,  the  very  fact  of  his  using  the  commonplace  for  his 


ROBIXSON  :     FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 7 1 

comparisons  forms  a  new  and  distinct  element  of  their  power. 
They  come  home  to  men's  business  and  bosoms  with  a  more  direct 
and  forceful  thrust  because  of  their  very  homeliness. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  question  of  audience  here.  A  glacier  in  its 
course  from  its  origin  in  rain  and  snow  to  its  final  watery  union  with 
the  ocean  furnishes  more  and  more  beautiful  points  of  comparison 
with  the  course  of  a  human  life  than  does  a  river ;  but  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  ethical  principles,  its  effective  strength  would  be  confined  to 
audiences  in  the  Alps  or  .Alaska,  and  gatherings  of  students  of  glacial 
phenomena.  To  other  classes  of  hearers  the  amount  of  attention 
given  to  comprehending  the  physical  basis  of  the  ethical  teaching 
would  be  a  large  subtraction  from  the  ethical  and  spiritual  effect. 
Hence,  it  is  no  mere  accident  that  Jesus'  illustrations  are  taken  from 
objects  immediately  and  fully  present  to  the  eyes  or  in  the  minds  of 
his  listeners.  When  he  omits  to  illustrate  God's  care  for  the  minute 
by  saying  that  he  numbers  the  stars  (Isa.  40'-''),  but  does  not  fail  to 
say  that  his  heavenly  Father  numbers  the  hairs  of  men's  heads,  the 
illustration  he  uses  is  not  only  more  simple,  but  is  more  effective 
than  the  one  he  avoids,  because  it  is  taken  from  an  object  close  at 
hand.  We  are  not  to  think  of  Jesus  as  unable  to  use  the  lofty 
poetry  of  the  prophets  for  ethical  enforcements,  because  his  refer- 
ences to  Isa.  14'-  and  to  the  vision  in  Daniel,  not  to  speak  of  other 
passages,  prove  the  contrary.  Nor  are  we  to  think  of  him  as  unable 
to  use  unfigurative  abstract  statements  clearly,  though  this  shows  a 
higher  degree  of  ethical  power  than  the  poetic  degree.  But,  in  the 
main,  he  chose  the  homely  illustrations  of  the  ordinary  life  of  his  day, 
because  through  them  he  could  come  home  to  the  men  of  his  day 
with  greatest  ethical  and  spiritual  force.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the 
western  mind  of  the  twentieth  century  loses  something  of  this  power 
simply  because  ic  is  not  living  the  oriental  life  of  the  first  century  ; 
but  Jesus  came  at  a  definite  time  and  in  a  definite  locality  ;  and  it  is 
of  the  then  conditions  that  we  are  speaking.-'" 

^'-'  No  mere  aggregation  of  citations  can  convey  an  idea  of  the  closeness  with 
which  Jesus'  comparisons  adhere  to  the  common  life  of  his  day.  They  can  best 
be  grasped  by  describing  a  Jewish  peasant  of  his  time  Hving  the  connected  Hfe 
of  a  single  day,  it  being  understood  that  it  is  merely  the  weaving  together  whicii 
is  imagined  for  the  sake  of  unity  of  impression,  while,  on  the  contrary,  every 
detail  of  the  picture  is  taken  from  one  of  Jesus'  comparisons,  without,  of  course, 
including  the  ethical  element  of  the  comparison,  but  only  the  physical.  The 
awkwardness  of  the  compilation,  so  foreign  to  the  naturalness  of  Jesus,  may  be 
forgiven  for  the  sake  of  the  end  it  seeks. 

Putting  on  his  clothing  (Mt.  6^^)  in  the  darkness  (Lk.  22**^)  so  quietly  that 


172  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 


XIV.    Ninth  Element  of  Power  :    Inwardness, 

The  last  element  of  forcefulness  in  Jesus'  comparisons  which  this 
paper  contains  is  the  peculiar  imoardness  which  characterizes  cer- 
tain of  them.  This  may  be  seen  by  contrasting  them  with  the 
corresponding  metaphors  of  Paul.  Paul's  conception  of  righteous- 
ness is  objective  and  theological,  while  that  of  Jesus  is  subjective 
and  ethical.  Paul's  conception  was  incidental  to  the  controversial 
position  of  his  great  epistles,  while  Jesus  seems  to  have  kept  a  posi- 
tion of  calmness,  and  to  have  dwelt  upon  the  essence  of  religion. 

his  left  hand  knew  not  ■v\hat  his  right  hand  was  doing  (Mt.  6^),  the  man  ate 
(Lk.  22IS),  and  having  satisfied  his  hunger  and  thirst  (Mt.  56),  the  process  of 
digesting  what  he  had  taken  into  his  mouth  began  (Mt.  1511- 1'--^).  Washing  his 
cup  an<l  plate  (Lk.  Ii^-^),  he  went  to  the  iimer  chamber  of  the  house  to  whisper 
a  word  of  warning  that  his  brother  might  proclaim  it  from  the  housetop  later 
(Lk.  123).  But  o,,  coming  out  he  found  his  mother  mixing  the  leaven  into  the 
meal  she  had  measured  (Lk,  13-I)  and  adding  the  necessary  salt  (Mt.  5i'^). 
By  the  light  of  the  lamp  which  stood  on  the  lamp-stand  (Lk,  2>^^)  his  brother 
was  pouring  some  new  wine  into  a  fresh  wine-skin  (Lk,  588),  having  wisely 
thrown  aside  the  old  wine-skin  (Lk.  ^^'),  which  his  little  child  (Mt.  18'^)  had 
brought  him  from  the  storeroom  (Mt,  13^^),  His  sister,  meanwhile,  was  patch- 
ing an  old  gown  with  a  piece  of  fulled  cloth,  and  mending  a  rent  in  her  new  one 
with  a  piece  that  was  unfuUed  (Lk,  586),  Bidding  good-by  (Lk.  96')  to  his 
brother  and  sister  and  mother  (Mt.  12^"^),  he  went  out  to  untie  the  ox  from  the 
manger  and  lead  him  to  water  (Lk.  13'^).  But  at  the  well  the  ox  fell  in,  whence 
he  was  with  difficulty  at  last  pulled  out,  two  days  later,  on  the  Sabbath  (Lk.  14°). 
There  were  no  foxes  (Lk.  I3-5-)  in  the  neighborhood  (Lk.  io29),  and  the  hens 
had  gathered  their  chickens  under  their  wings  (Lk,  13^*)  in  the  open  yard. 
Near  by  a  shepherd  was  separating  his  sheep  from  the  goats  (Mt,  252-).  When 
the  man  came  up  to  him,  the  two  fell  into  a  discussion  of  the  weathtr  probabil- 
ities, for  there  was  both  a  south  wind  blowing  which  indicated  heat  and  a  rising 
cloud  which  indicated  a  shower  (Lk,  12^^-^'^).  In  fact,  the  morning  redness  of 
the  sky  had  proph.-siJd  foul  weather  (Mt.  l6--^),  quite  contrary  to  the  expecta- 
tions raised  by  the  rosy  flush  of  the  evening  before.  Then  they  talked  of  the 
recent  fatal  fall  of  the  tower  of  Siloam,  in  which  eighteen  persons  had  met  their 
death  (Lk.  13-'),  and  of  Pilate's  mixing  the  blood  of  some  GaUlaeans  he  had 
killed  with  that  of  the  sacrifices  they  were  offering  at  the  temple  (Lk.  13^;.  As 
the  man  went  onward  toward  the  village  he  crossed  a  wady,  where  the  bare 
stones  told  the  eloquent  story  (Lk.  19*'')  of  the  folly  of  a  man  who  had  built  his 
house  on  one  of  its  sloping  sides  without  going  deep  enough  to  reach  the  bed 
rock  for  his  foundation  (Mt.  7-'').  A  cloudburst  in  the  mountains  had  sent  a 
flood  down  the  wady,  and  the  storm  and  the  stream  combined  had  made  the 
house  a  complete  wreck  (Mt.  "j-').  In  the  open  field  beyond  were  thousands  of 
wild  lilies  (Mt.  6-®*'),  with  here  and  there  a  mustard  tree,  which  had  grown  from 
its  minute  seed  till  it  was  ten  feet  or  more  in  height,  and  the  birds  had  nested  in 


ROBINSON  :     F0RCEFULNES3    IN    JESUS     COMPARISONS.  I  73 

Now  religion  being  essentially  a  thing  of  tlie  soul,  and  all  its  outward 
phenomena  arising  from  inward  states,  the  teacher  who  deals  mainly 
with  the  outward  conceptions  must  fumble  more  or  less,  no  matter 
how  powerful  his  natural  grasp  ;  while  he  who  deals  with  the  inward 
may  indeed  fumble,  but  is  in  a  position  to  grasp  with  whatever 
power  he  has,  for  his  hand  is  at  the  one  centre  of  gravity,  not  dart- 
ing about  after  the  objects  that  are  flying  along  in  the  orbital  paths. 
There  are  two  elements  here  in  the  power  of  the  comparisons  to 
which  we  are  referring.  One  is  the  essential  inwardness  of  all  true 
religion.  The  directness  and  power  with  which  he  laid  hold  of  this 
is  felt  through  all  his  language.      But  this  element  of  force  must  not 

its  branches  (Lk.  176  Mt.  13^1).  Farther  on  a  farm  hand  was  ploughing  (Lk. 
g62')  where  the  soil  was  deep  enough,  while  a  sower  was  scattering  seed  at  a  dis- 
tance behind,  some  of  which  fell  on  the  trodden  path  that  crossed  the  field, 
where  the  birds  were  picking  it  up,  some  upon  deep  earth,  and  some  among 
thorns  (Mt.  13"' *^-)-  ^^'J'^  did  the  sower  seem  to  suspect  that  the  next  night  a 
neighbor  who  owed  him  a  grudge  would  secretly  sow  tare  seed  among  his  wheat 
(Mt.  13-*).  Skirting  a  fine  vineyard  in  which  were  numerous  fig  trees,  one  of 
them  seemingly  in  bad  condition  (Lk.  13^),  he  came  down  to  the  seashore, 
where  reeds  were  waving  in  the  wiini  (Lk.  7-*),  and  strong  men  (Lk.  ii'^'),  who 
probably  never  thought  of  such  a  thing  as  having  the  doctor  (Lk.  5^'),  were 
hauling  out  a  net  full  of  live  fish  (Mk.  5I').  To  buy  some  of  the  fish  he  took 
out  his  well-worn  purse  (Lk.  \2^^^,  but  there  was  not  enough  in  it  to  give  alms 
to  the  poorest  beggar  (Lk.  Ii*^),  for  his  wife,  having  lost  one  piece  out  of  the 
ten  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  have  that  day,  had,  as  he  now  remembered,  bor- 
rowed his  last  drachma,  promising  to  take  a  liglit  and  broom  and  sweep  every 
dark  corner  of  the  house  until  she  found  her  own  (Lk.  15*)  and  could  repay  him. 
The  main  road  ran  near  the  sea,  where  a  blind  man,  holding  another  blind  man 
by  the  hand,  was  walking  along,  and  both  were  saved  just  as  they  were  falling 
into  the  roadside  ditch  (Lk.  6'^'-'*')  by  the  timely  interference  of  the  man,  who,  in 
his  haste  to  reach  them,  stepped,  to  his  horror,  upon  the  unpainted  slab  of  a  tomb 
(Lk.  1 1**).  A  pearl  merchant  soon  passed  by,  but  did  not  offer  to  show  his 
pearls,  for  he  had  sold  them  in  order  to  use  the  money  for  some  purpose  he 
would  not  disclose  (Mt.  I3"'^- '*'');  although  he  was  quite  willing  to  talk  of  the 
invitations  to  a  certain  well-known  supper  (Lk.  14^-),  of  recent  weddings 
(Lk.  14**),  and  of  one  very  great  supper,  to  which  everybody  was  being  invited 
(Lk.   I4"0- 

Even  such  a  mosaic  pattern  as  we  have  just  been  weaving  conveys  but  a  faint 
idea  of  the  way  Jesus  had  of  using  the  actions  and  events  of  which  at  any  one 
houi  he  was  a  part,  as  something  with  which  to  compare  tiie  principle  he  was 
enunciating  at  that  very  time.  For  his  table  talk  was  often  concerned  with  feast- 
ing, his  lakeside  talk  with  fishing;  and,  in  a  word,  he  not  only  made  comparisons 
out  of  things  which  were  at  haml,  in  the  sense  of  being  part  of  the  general  every- 
day life  of  his  people,  but  in  the  sense  of  being  pjirt  of  the  very  action  or  scene 
with  which  he  was  at  that  very  moment  engaged4 


174  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

be  confused  with  a  certain  inwardness  to  be  noted  in  the  physical 
basis  itself  of  certain  comparisons.  This  quaHty  may  be  seen  in 
three  different  stages  or  forms. 

1.  It  is  perfectly  possible  to  figure  the  things  of  the  soul  under 
the  image  of  a  journey,  as  in  Pilgrim's  Progress ;  or  of  a  siege,  as  in 
the  Holy  War ;  or  of  a  garden,  as  in  Tennyson's  Geraini  and  EnidJ^ 
But  a  journey,  a  siege,  and  a  garden,  are  external.  They  have  no 
natural  inwardness.  There  is  inwardness,  however,  in  the  very  con- 
ception of  leaven,  of  soil  with  seed  in  it,  and  of  a  tenant.  Such 
images  as  these  Jesus  uses  ;  and  their  physical  inwardness  is  an  ele- 
ment of  power  in  portraying  spiritual  inwardness.  For  every  meta- 
phor has  a  certain  quality  of  its  own  apart  from  the  matter  which  it 
illustrates  ;  and  if  both  matter  and  metaphor  have  the  same  char- 
acter, their  harmony  greatly  strengthens  the  total  effect.  Hunger 
and  thirst  are  inward  (Mt.  5'').  So  are  leaven  (Lk.  13'"'),  treasure 
(drjrravpo^)  (Lk.  6*''),  digestion  (Mk.  7^'),  and  a  tomb  (Lk.  1 1"*^),  which 
inevitably  suggests  the  dead  bo'ly  beneath. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  have  to  note  that  certain  physical  or 
natural  facts  have  two  parts,  an  outward  and  an  inward.  Of  these, 
Jesus  chooses  the  inward,  with  an  effect  found  nowhere  else  in 
Scripture.  Isaiah  has  his  agricultural  parable  (28-"'-^),  covering 
almost  the  whole  process,  from  ploughing  to  threshing.  He  levels 
the  ground,  casts  abroad  the  fitches,  scatters  the  cummin,  puts  the 
wheat  in  rows  and  the  barley  in  the  appointed  place,  beats  out  the 
fitches  with  a  staff  and  the  cummin  with  a  rod  ;  but  every  detail 
belongs  to  the  external  side  of  agriculture.  Paul  also  (i  Cor.  3'*"'') 
speaks  of  the  Corinthians  as  tilled  land  (yewpyiov).  He  has  planted 
and  Apollos  watered  (v.*').  But  there  is  no  inwardness  in  these 
images  ;  and  the  same  is  true,  as  our  table  shows,  of  all  his  agricul- 
tural metaphors.  A  man  reaps  what  he  sows,  and  reaps  sparingly  or 
bountifully.  There  is  much  mention  of  fruit  and  fruitfulness,  as  well 
as  of  bare  grain.  But  all  his  imagery,  like  Isaiah's,  stays  up  in  the 
open  air.  Jesus  goes  underground.  The  parable  of  the  sower  is  a 
parable  of  the  differing  fate  of  the  seed  within  the  different  soils. 
Even  the  grain  of  mustard  seed  is  thought  of  from  the  viewpoint  of 

'^  Full  selilom  does  a  man  repent,  or  use 

Both  grace  and  will  to  pick  the  vicious  quitch 
Of  lilood  and  custom  wholly  out  of  him 
And  make  all  clean  and  ])lant  himself  afresh. 
Edyrn  has  done  it,  weeding  all  liis  heart 
As  I  will  weed  this  land  before  I  go. 


ROBINSON:     FORCEFULNESS    IN   JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  1 75 

the  secret  start  it  gets  when  it  is  sown.  In  Mark  4-"-"  the  farmer's 
activity  is  carefully  excluded.  He  goes  to  bed  and  gets  up,  and  the 
earth  brings  forth  fruit  of  herself.  If  the  reader  will  refer  to  the 
account  of  Paul's  use  of  children  as  illustrations,  as  we  have  given  it 
on  a  previous  page,  it  will  at  once  appear  that  Paul  views  the  child 
externally  —  as  a  thing  that  grows  and  is  trained  and  reaches  ma- 
turity ;  while  Jesus,  even  in  his  illustration  of  children  in  the  market- 
place, has  reference  to  their  inward  tempers  and  dispositions,  and 
makes  his  most  critical  illustration  of  the  temper  and  spirit  required 
in  those  who  are  to  enter  the  Kingdom  out  of  the  little  child's  trust- 
ful and  obedient  inner  attitude.  He  has  nothing  whatever  to  say  of 
the  child  as  wrought  upon,  guided,  or  educated,  but  turns  nimself 
entirely  to  its  inner  life.  Undoubtedly  he  loved  children  ;  but  he 
has  none  of  the  endearing  talk  of  the  old  prophets,  about  their  being 
nursed,  or  being  taken  by  the  arms  and  taught  to  walk  ;  and  the 
more  we  recognize  both  the  Old  Testament  details  and  the  Pauline 
details  descriptive  of  child  life  in  its  external  aspect,  the  more 
remarkable  seems  Jesus'  passing  them  all  by  and  going  into  the 
child's  interior  nature.  Characteristic  also  is  the  difference  between 
Jesus  and  Paul  in  architectural  imagery.  Paul  hurries  away  from  the 
foundation  in  order  to  speak  of  the  superstructure,  with  elaborate 
details  of  "  gold,  silver,  costly  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble,"  and  of  the 
fire  that  shall  test  the  superstructure.  Jesus,  on  the  other  hand, 
"  digs  and  goes  deep  "  (Lk.  6"**^),  laying  his  foundation  on  the  hidden 
rock ;  and  has  it  tested,  not  by  some  incendiary  conflagration,  but 
by  the  infallible  elements.  The  inwardness  of  the  imagery  itself  of 
Jesus  is  again  evident,  for  he  might  have  spoken  of  character  as  a 
structure  to  be  tested  by  the  assaults  of  its  outward  enemies.  When 
he  does  think  of  a  house  it  is  as  a  tenement,  in  which  a  tenant  dwells, 
and  whose  sweeping,  furnishing,  and  other  interior  arrangements,  are, 
as  it  were,  his  whole  concern  (Lk.  ii-'*'-'"). 

3.  A  third  class  of  images  whose  characteristic  is  inwardness  may 
be  found  in  those  to  which  Jesus  gives  an  inward  turn.  He  uses 
familiar  words  —  brambles  and  grapes,  or  figs  and  thistles ;  but  he 
so  uses  them  as  to  set  forth  the  inner  quality  of  the  tree  or  vine, 
which  makes  it  produce  the  corresponding  fruit  (Lk.  6"*^).  He  gives 
the  familiar  names  to  the  wolf  and  the  sheep,  but  he  puts  the  wolf 
inside  the  sheep's  skin,  making  an  image  which,  in  its  first  portrayal, 
must  have  had  startling  force  (Mt.  7'''').  There  seems  also  a  certain 
suggestiveness  in  the  treasure  hid  in  the  field  (Mt.  13'").  I'ut  the 
most  interesting  instance  is  the  word  "  neighbor,"  in  the  parable  of 


iy6  JOURNAL   OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

the  good  Samaritan  (Lk.  lo^").  The  lawyer  asks  how  much  area  the 
word  covers  ;  jesus  tells  him  how  deep  it  is.  Answering  his  question 
as  to  the  two  dimensions  of  the  plane  ;  Jesus  tells  him  of  the  height 
and  depth  of  the  solid.  The  lawyer  asked  after  quantity  ;  Jesus 
answered  in  terms  of  quality,  changing  the  word  from  a  name  for  the 
man  we  meet  to  a  description  of  our  conduct  and  spirit  toward  him. 

XV.    Possible  Value  of  the  Present  Study. 

The  study  we  have  now  made  of  the  forcefulness  of  Jesus'  com- 
parisons shows  that  the  general  impression  of  power  which  they  have 
made  upon  mankind  will  bear  analysis.  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  bring  a  new  force  rather  than  a  new  creed.  This  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  his  work  as  a  whole  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic 
of  his  comparisons.  If  this  last  fact  has  been  made  newly  clear  by 
our  detailed  study,  I  may  venture  to  mention  certain  directions  in 
which  the  result  may  possibly  have  value  : 

I.  In  the  matter  of  text  criticism.  Where  we  have  two  or  more 
variations  of  an  utterance  of  Jesus,  the  strongest  is  likely  to  be 
nearest  his  own  original  saying.  Other  canons  have  a  limiting  effect. 
But  this  one  should  have  no  small  weight.  It  may  even  prevail  over 
the  balance  of  mere  manuscript  evidence  in  favor  of  a  weaker  read- 
ing. For  it  is  quite  certain  that  Jesus  was  greater  than  the  evan- 
gelists, and  must  often  have  been  over  the  heads  of  his  reporters. 
And  when  a  statement  attributed  to  him  appears  at  first  sight  to 
be  harsh  or  hyperbolical  in  its  intensity,  it  is  not,  therefore,  to  be 
regarded  as  gloss,  but  rather  as  likely,  for  that  very  reason,  to  be 
genuine. 

^''  For  these  reasons,  ^wyplv  (Lk.  5'")  is  probably  a  better  reflection 
of  Jesus'  thought  than  dXeets  (Mt.  4'*^,  a  conclusion  incidentally 
favored  by  the  etymology  of  T^_,  which  connects  it  with  the  fishes 
and  not  with  the  sea  (Jer.  6'"  gcri ;  cf.  Amos  4-  Habakkuk  i"). 
"Octets  yevvr/zAara  ex^Si/wj/  (Mt.  23")  does  not  appear  in  the  parallel 
passage  in  Luke,  perhaps  as  being  too  intense  for  Jesus.  Yet 
Matthew's  reading,  just  because  of  its  intensity,  may  be  right. 
Luke's  omission  (16^')  of  iwra  Iv  (Mt.  5^*^)  is  a  weakening  of  Matthew, 
not  Matthew  a  strengthening  of  Luke.  Similarly,  Luke's  weakening 
the  cloak  maxim,  and  omitting  the  going  two  miles,  represents  Jesus 

^•4  In  this  paragraph  no  account  is  taken  of  the  documentary  evidence  of  the 
sources  used  by  the  Synoptists  ;  only  intrinsic  evidence  of  individual  passages  is 
considered. 


ROHINSON  :     FORCF.FULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  I  77 

less  accurately  than  Matthew,  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is  weaker 
(cf.  Lk.  6-''  '^^  and  Mt.  s**-").  tw  Tri/ew/xart  (Mt.  5^)  is  probably  an  addi- 
tion to  the  bare  tttwxoI  of  Lk.  6''".  For  while  the  former  is  more 
spiritual  in  sense,  the  latter  has  more  naked  force.  On  the  contrary, 
the  longer  reading  in  Mt.  12*  and  Mk.  3'''^  is  to  be  preferred  to 
Luke's  (8-'),  for  the  addition  by  Jesus  of  aBekcf))  gives  the  expression 
a  greater  intensity.  In  Luke  6*^,  the  TR,  tliough  farther  from  the 
original  text  than  the  Alexandrine  reading  (8ia  to  KaX-Tis  ot/coSo/xeio-^ai 
ttUTi/v),  is  probably  nearer  to  Jesus  himself,  for  it  corresponds  to  the 
text  of  Matthew  (Tc^e/xeXt'wTo  yap  eVi  tyjv  Trirpav),  which,  because  of 
its  vigor,  is  more  in  accord  with  his  way  of  speaking.  The  utter 
absurdity  of  cutting  into  a  new  garment  is  alleged  against  the  read- 
ing LfxaTLOv  Kaivov  CT^'W?  (Lk.  5"*^.  But  uttcr  absurdity  is  precisely 
the  point  Jesus  is  making ;  and  the  vigor  of  the  portrayal  is  an  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  its  genuineness.  Li  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep 
(Mt.  iS^-*'^-  Lk.  iS"*"^),  Luke's  description  is  stronger  than  that  of 
Matthew,  who  makes  the  shepherd  rejoice  alone,  without  friends  or 
neighbors,  and  states  the  application  in  a  negative  form  :  "  It  is  not 
the  will  of  your  Father,"  etc.  From  what  we  have  seen  of  the  force- 
fulness  of  Jesus'  comparisons  in  general,  we  argue  in  favor  of  the 
superior  fidelity  of  Luke's  picture.  KaraTrovrLaOrj  iv  tw  TreAayei  TYJ'i 
OxXda-ar)?  (Mt.  1 8^),  not  only  because  of  its  Hebraistic  form,  but 
because  of  its  greater  intensity,  is  preferable  to  the  readings  in  Mark 
9''- and  Luke  17-,  that  is,  Matthew  is  probably  nearer  the  original 
word-picture  of  Jesus.  For  the  same  reason,  fxvXo?  6vlk6<s,  in 
Matthew  and  Mark,  is  preferable  to  the  simple  Xt^os  (jlvXikos  of 
Luke.  We  do  not  regard  the  parable  in  Luke  14'^-'*  as  a  weakening 
of  the  one  in  Matthew  22-"".  They  are  rather  separate  parables, 
entirely  distinct  each  from  the  other,  though  built  upon  a  similar 
physical  basis,  and  each  is  stronger  in  its  own  line  than  the  other. 
In  Matthew,  the  invited  kill  the  bearers  of  the  invitation,  and  the 
king,  in  turn,  destroys  them  and  burns  their  city.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  Luke,  the  servants  are  sent  out  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of 
the  city ;  and  again,  a  second  time,  out  into  the  highways  and 
hedges.  The  inviting  grace  is  fuller  and  stronger  in  Luke,  and  the 
visitation  of  judgment  is  far  stronger  in  Matthew.  These  differences 
seem  to  point  to  two  strong  parables,  each  with  a  different  design, 
rather  than  to  one  as  a  weakening  or  alteration  of  the  other. 

2.  Recognition  of  the  characteristic  power  of  Jesus'  comparisons 
is  a  general  guide  in  the  interpretation  of  a  certain  class  of  his  say- 
ings, viz.  those  that  seem  too  strongly  stated  to  harmonize  with  his 


1/8  JOURNAL    OF    BIBLICAL    LITERATURE. 

general  teaching.  On  the  one  hand,  these  are  not  to  be  taken  liter- 
ally;  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  not  to  be  considered  hypeibole, 
and  diluted  into  milder  meanings  ;  but  they  are  rather  to  be  viewed 
as  principles  in  the  form  of  concrete  statements.  For  example,  in 
the  parable  of  the  unprofitable  servants  (Lk.  17'"^°),  we  are  not  to 
think  that  earnest  workers  are  to  consider  themselves  as  unprofitable 
or  valueless,  nor  are  we  to  think  of  the  statement  in  v.^'*  as  an 
extravagant  portrayal  of  humility  ;  but,  rather,  we  are  to  consider 
the  whole  parable  as  a  kind  of  metaphorical  picture  —  to  be 
received  without  weakening  its  outlines  —  of  that  spirit  of  intense 
devotion  and  readiness  to  do  extra  service  which  must  characterize 
the  ideal  follower  of  Jesus.  To  take  the  account  literally  is  to  make 
God  a  hard  and  even  cruel  taskmaster.  To  consider  it  as  an  exag- 
gerated portrayal  is  either  to  throw  it  away  altogether  or  to  ascribe 
to  Jesus  something  out  of  line  with  his  usual  method  of  speaking. 

3.  Our  investigation  helps  us  in  part,  and  at  least  in  an  external 
way,  to  account  for  the  effect  of  Jesus'  teaching.  Everv  great 
teacher  has  thoughts,  and  has  forms  in  which  he  expresses  his 
thoughts.  We  get  the  thought  through  the  form  ;  yet  it  is  perfectly 
possible  to  conceive  of  the  thought  remaining  essentially  the  same, 
even  though  clothed  in  an  entirely  different  form  of  expression. 
The  forms  which  Jesus  used  were  themselves  adapted  to  strike  and 
stick.  They  could  not  be  forgotten.  For  his  day  and  age  they 
seem  almost  ideally  effective. 

4.  The  forcefulness  of  Jesus'  sayings  is  the  main  feature  in  their 
originality.  For  our  study  of  the  individual  passages  has  incident- 
ally shown  that  nearly  all  the  material  in  his  comparisons  already 
existed,  and  that  in  making  them  he  drew  from  already  existing 
sources.  The  elemental  needs  of  the  soul,  the  character  of  God,  the 
way  of  salvation,  the  nature  of  true  righteousness,  were  already 
expressed  in  many  feeble  or  faulty  forms.  Jesus  stated  them  with 
clearness  and  power.  The  clearness  and  power  are  his  main  origi- 
nality as  a  teacher;  and  this  fact  is  in  harmony  with  his  mission  as 
a  whole,  which  was  not  to  bring  new  thought  or  new  organizations, 
but  to  fill  existing  ones  with  spiritual  power,  which  would  develop 
them  to  the  full,  even  though  in  doing  so  it  might  destroy  much  of 
their  form.  In  other  words,  we  are  not  to  regard  Jesus  as  one  more 
Rabbi,  classifying  the  actions  of  practical  life  into  the  permitted  and 
the  forbidden,  and  giving  detailed  rules  for  acting  under  the  various 
circumstances  in  which  men  might  find  themselves.  We  are  not  to 
systematize  his  utterances,  given  in  connection  with  concrete  matters, 


ROBINSON  :    FORCEFULNESS    IN    JESUS'    COMPARISONS.  I  79 

into  a  code  of  ethics  which  shall  give  us  instruction  and  information 
how  to  act  in  regard  to  the  several  matters  mentioned  ;  but  we  are 
rather  to  look  for  inspiration  for  the  different  feelings  and  passions 
of  the  soul,  and  to  find  channels  opened  into  which  they  may  be 
directed.  We  must  not  expect  to  find  a  rule  which  will  assign  a 
reasonable  limit  to  forgiveness,  but  an  inspiration  to  unlimited  for- 
giveness (cf.  Mt.  i8-^~).  We  are  not  to  look  for  a  list  of  practices 
which  must  be  given  up  in  order  to  sanctity,  but  for  a  spiritual  stim- 
ulus which  will  precipitate  us  upon  the  sacrifice  of  anything  and 
everything  which  hinders  personal  righteousness  (Mk.  p'*'^'^').  We 
are  not  to  look  for  specific  directions  how  to  behave  under  oppres- 
sion, but  for  words  which  will  stir  us  up  to  immediate  and  aggressive 
love  for  our  oppressors  (Mt.  5'''^"''').  In  a  word,  we  are  not  to  seek 
"  commandments  "  for  the  outward  control  of  life,  or  any  ranking  of 
them  on  the  principle  of  relative  worth,  but  rather  for  high  incite- 
ments toward  loving  the  Lord  our  God  with  heart  and  mind,  and 
soul  and  strength,  and  our  neighbor  as  ourself  (Mk.  i2-^''^').  For 
Jesus  will  come  with  great  power  to  the  soul  that  is  eager  to  lead  a 
divine  life,  but  he  brings  only  meagre  information  to  be  incorporated 
in  the  encyclopaedias  which  tell  just  what  to  do  in  any  given  set  of 
circumstances. 


I 


L^ 


PAMPHLET  BINDER 

Syrocuse,  N.   Y. 

—    Stockton,   Calif. 


BS2421.83.R6 

Some  elements  of  forcefulness  in  the 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1   1012  00029  0116 


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